The Jones Boys
by Blue Eyes At Night
Summary: Indy and Mutt have come a long way in a year, but they're still trying to figure out this family business...a girl comes into their lives for very different reasons. From Indy, she wants help solving her parents murder. From Mutt, fun and distraction.
1. Chapter 1

The Jones Boys

The Jones Boys

He knew the answer, but there was no way to he was going to raise his hand…unless he was raising it with his comb to scrape through his hair. There was no two ways about the answer though, he knew it. Right now some loser in the first row was coming out of his seat trying to get the professors attention.

"_Professor!_ Professssoooor!!" He waved his hand for effect and Mutt suppressed a laugh… was getting one answer to one question that important? If you knew it, good for you, if you didn't so what? Either way, why make yourself look like an idiot?

Ignoring the boy in front the professor kept scanning the room, "Profffesssssor!"

Mutt let a chuckle loose.

"Mr. Williams… do you know the answer?"

"Well, prof, I think Kellis does, maybe you should ask him. He seems excited about it." In the front row Michael Kellis blushed. He was a slight boy who always had an answer, not always the right answer but an answer nonetheless. He was sadly used to Mutt's jibe.

"Akkadian, Dr. Jones." Kellis raised his chin proudly, "They're the earliest form of writing we know."

Mutt scoffed.

"Mr. Williams, first you don't want to answer the question, and now you're mocking the person who did answer."

"Well, he's wrong, sir." Mutt reached into his pocket and pulled out his comb, pulling it evenly through both sides of his head. Beside him a girl rolled her eyes at him, the class greaser. One of only a handful in the entire college, and the others weren't genuine greasers but rich boys impersonating them. Mutt was unique, and not necessarily in a positive way.

"If you disagree with Akkadian, which culture do you think the earliest form of writing originated from?"

"Sumerian cuneiform. We can't read it because it's a unique language, it has no modern counterparts. The Akkadian's took over the Sumerian culture and converted their language to Akkadian but kept Sumerian cuneiform. So we can read what's in Akkadian, but it actually started with Sumerian."

The professor sighed and smiled, "Mr. Williams is correct. While often mistaken as the originating culture of the writing word, the Akkadians are merely the conquering culture. As we know, however, to the victor goes the ability to write history. In this case, literally. They preserved Sumerian documents in Sumerian but we have no way of translating these; no one decided a dictionary was an appropriate book."

The class let a light laugh flow through the room.

"We have one surviving Sumerian story, only surviving because the Assyrians had an Akkadian translation, is Gilgamesh. Some of you may have had the privilege in High School to read it, but I'm assigning portions of it. You can pick them off my desk on the way out along with your last test. On that note, class dismissed."

Students filed out slowly, especially Michael Kellis who made sure he asked the professor to look over his notes to insure that they were accurate. He maintained that studying poorly constructed notes was why he confused the two cultures earlier.

"These look fine Kellis, I'm sure you'll do fine. Your test score improved this time, its nice to see that."

"Thanks Dr. Jones." Kellis took his test and his copy of Gilgamesh and wandered to his next class.

In the back of the room Mutt Williams was combing his hair again, pretending that was the reason that he was moving slowly out of class. He didn't want the rest of the class knowing he was waiting for his father for a slew of reasons, the chief of which was that he would no longer be able to maintain the cool, uncaring greaser image. He might still be considered cool, but in a weird, nerd way that comes from the mild cult of hero worship at the College for Dr. Jones.

As the last people left, Indiana Jones shut his brief case and held out a stapled pile of papers.

"Just because we live in the same house does not mean I am schlumping your essays and exams back and forth for you. And please, start submitting the essays during class instead of at home. People are going to wonder how you magically have papers when it never looks like you submit them."

"Yeah yeah, let me see the test…. What the hell is this?" Mutt shook the paper when he saw the grade, " 77? How? I didn't get a single question wrong! This is unfair, prejudiced treatment!"

Indy took the paper, flipped the first two pages, which as Mutt said didn't possess a single wrong answer, and pointed to the last page. The essay portion.

"What's wrong with it? I gave the right answer!" Mutt protested.

"You wrote four sentences. It's an essay question worth 30 points. Essay. Long. You know what they are, you occasionally write them."

"It was a simple question, it didn't require more than four sentences to answer!"

"It's an essay question! _Essay_." Indy started walking back to his office.

"This is bullshit, you didn't say how long an answer you just called it an essay portion and gave a question. An easy question. Explain why ancient cultures use buffalo in their art when it does not appear they were a food source. AND I DID!"

"Bullshit or not, any English major will tell you an essay has an opening, a body and a conclusion. You want to make a short one? Be my guest, it makes grading the papers quicker but four sentences barely make an opening, let alone an entire essay. End of discussion."

Mutt forgot himself and in his frustration grabbed his hair with both hands, ruining his careful coif. When he realized it he darted to the mirror in his father's office and began to fix it. Indy smiled and shook his head. Mutt hated the structure of school, the rules, the red tape. The hoops he had to jump through. Despite that, he was an amazing student. Absorbed knowledge like a sponge. He didn't just memorize, he understood. He wasn't a prodigy but he was smart… Indy was grateful that Mutt had decided to make an attempt at peace with his newly discovered father that he would try school.

With Indy coaching him, he passed the GED after only studying for one year, making up for the two he missed from high school. Indy was so proud of him…but that was one of the roughest years of Indy's life. He was getting used to being married, getting used to being a father, getting used to moody, emotional teenage boys, and trying to teach a son that was still coping with the whole familial structure he was used to getting turned upside down. There were fights, monumental fights, epic fights…fights where Marion wound up boxing both men's ears and putting them in separate rooms. Fights where she'd threatened to lock them in a trunk together until they learned peace.

But from that, Indy and Mutt had learned something very important: they both loved history, and they were both very good at learning about it. It didn't take much effort for either to learn it, love it, and be a source on it. If Mutt wasn't so bad at structuring his papers, Indy would have suggested publication. Some of the ideas were enlightening, but the boy was simply a bad study at writing and had no desire whatever to change that. It was surprising for someone who read as much as Mutt did, but it was there. Indy was beginning to crack down harder on him for it, and the boy was not appreciating it.

Then again, they'd never gone easy on each other. That's just not how they were. At all. Luckily, both were somewhat at peace with that aspect of their personalities.

"So, Daddio, we going to the bar? Grab a beer, play some darts?"

They had gotten into a somewhat comfortable place where they could relax together and hang out. For all that they would never let each other know, they both found the other interesting and liked to get to know the person both had missed for the first twenty years. They knew that the last year and a half didn't change much, but it helped. If they could never regain the paternal bond Mutt shared with Ox, they could achieve some degree of intimacy and appreciation.

"Yeah, just let me go over some of the papers from my Late Egyptian class… twenty minutes?"

Mutt nodded and pulled out a book from another class. After the struggle of getting his diploma, Mutt knew Indy wanted him to go onto college. But he took time, he wanted to scope out the classes and see if he wanted to actually do that. After auditing a couple courses, Mutt enrolled. Marion and Indy were both shocked, but pleased, to see him select one of Indy's own Ancient Civilization courses. Mutt brushed it off, saying the other professors were boring, but Indy knew it was because Mutt trusted him to neither be too hard or too easy on him given that he was Indy's son. Not every professor at the school did that. Mutt had been forced to drop his advanced mechanics class because there was some kind of grudge between the professor and his father. Not changing his name had helped distance himself somewhat, but the teachers that knew Marion and Indy were married had heard of Mutt. Most of the students didn't know, and Mutt intended to keep that barrier.

There they sat, the two Jones boys, one grading papers, one reading Gilgamesh.

Then there was a knock.

"Come in." Indy muttered and Mutt turned the handle, allowing the door to swing open.

"Dr. Jones? Are you terribly busy or can I talk with you a moment?"

Both men looked up and saw a girl, holding books and a box and a leather coat. She had a full length skirt and a blouse with enough buttons open that Mutt pretended to stretch to get a better look at down the gap.

"That depends on what you want." Indy stood up and extended his hand, "Dr. Indiana Jones."

"Laurel Weston." She shook his hand, "Am I interrupting something?"

She gestured to Mutt, catching him stare at her breasts, and raising an eyebrow at him, letting a smile show.

"Smooth…" She looked at the nametag on his jacket, "Mutt?"

"Uh, this is Mutt Williams, Miss…Weston? As in the Briar Westons?" Indy turned her attention back to him, "As in Martin Weston?"

"Yes…are you sure I'm not interrupting?"

Mutt stood up, "No, Dr. Jones, we'll continue what we started later."

He walked outside the door, just to the side where he'd be generally out of the way. Twenty minutes later he wondered if he should just go to the bar and start alone when the door to the office opened.

"I'm intrigued, Laurel. But I am afraid there is little basis to these claims. However, if you still feel that this is attracting attention I'd be happy to help in whatever capacity I can. Martin was a good man. A bad cook, but a good man."

"Thank you, Dr. Jones."

Laurel shook Indy's hand and caught Mutt's eye, "Sorry to keep him so long."

She smiled at Mutt again, something was behind it that he couldn't decipher. Indy seemed to understand it though, and said, "Mutt, why don't you walk Laurel out? She's visiting and isn't very familiar with the school."

Mutt shrugged, "Alright… where'd you park?"

"In front of the library…which is on the other side of the universe, I gather. It took me twenty minutes to find the offices."

"It's not quite so bad…follow me." As they walked Mutt once more combed his hair.

They didn't really talk for the first few minutes, there was an awkward silence of two total strangers.

"So…how do you know Dr. Jones?"

"He's my professor. He's a good guy. Friend of my mom's too." It was the typical response Mutt gave people, usually not even offering that Indy and his mom had any connection whatever.

"Yes, I've heard he's a good man. He was friends with my father briefly, during the war. But he left quite the impression… I heard he was somewhat of an adventurer. Someone who took the hard cases or the strange ones. He comes back with a lot of stories, little actual proof but a lot of people say that he's solved some…extremely big puzzles."

"Yeah, well people say that…who knows if it's true? I know he does a lot of field work."

"Well, he says he isn't doing it so much anymore."

That struck Mutt…how many cases did Indy and Marion fight over because he wanted to go traveling and Marion didn't want to disrupt everything. Her job, his job, Mutt's job, Mutt's classes… Mutt kind of wished they'd have another adventure. He had had the best and worst moments of his life on their last trip; he wouldn't mind that again.

"Well, I don't know about that." Mutt fought the urge to comb his hair again.

"What do you know about?"

Oh…he sensed flirtation, he allowed himself to comb his hair again, "Depends on what you want to know about…I know lots of things."

She quirked an eyebrow at his hair combing, "The jacket says Mac's Auto Mechanics… what's your poison, cars or bikes?"

He smiled, "Bikes…you could say that there's a, a, uh, freedom in them. You know, its really liberating to go for a ride, the wind in your hair and nothing but the hum of the engine."

He put on his coolest voice and tried to sound nonchalant, "I have a Harley, it's uh…pretty fast. Maybe you'd like to go fast with me sometime?"

They turned the corner and were in front of the system, "So, doll, which one's your car?"

She laughed, "Well, _doll_, I don't have a car."

She walked up to a shiny 1958 Ducati motorcycle. Mutt felt his jaw drop and tried to close it, "So I sounded like an idiot."

"It was a cute attempt. Hold these?" She handed him her books and un-tied her frumpy long skirt. Underneath were leather pants, she shrugged on the jacket she'd been carrying and then took her books back from Mutt. The box she hadn't let go of, and now she placed it securely in a box fastened to her sissy bars.

"So you have a Harley? You say it goes fast?" She smiled and winked, "Maybe if you're lucky I'll let you have a go on a world championship crafted bike, not some American tinker toy."

He laughed, "You beat my Harley, I'll eat my hat."

She reached to his back pocket where he kept his cap and pulled it out, studying it, and proclaiming, "Looks dry, may I recommend gravy?"

"How about dinner after the race, loser pays?" Mutt shot back, "Friday night?"

Laurel smiled, "How's 7 by the county road that's past the soda parlor?"

"You're on…Laurel, right?"

"Right, Mutt."

Mutt had a goofy smile on his face, dates were always a plus. Racing was a plus. Combining the two was double the fun for him…he had to love a girl who knew her bikes. He just wondered how she afforded the Ducati, the top of the line model she had cost a pretty penny.

Indy saw the smile, and shook his head.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, Junior."

"What?" Mutt only half heard his father, "Why?"

"The Briar Weston's are the oldest family in Europe. They can trace their roots back to the Exiled Irish Monks establishing a line in the 800s. They also have money tracing back there too."

"What's she doing here then?"

"Her parents were found dead a year ago, the circumstances were somewhat dubious. She claims that her father was doing research into a family myth that ended in mystery, he was lost, her mom went to find him and they both wound up dead a few days later. She was recently expelled from a private school because she stopped cooperating with teachers, claiming she had better work to do. She thinks her father's research was why he was 'killed'."

"And she wants you to help?"

"Its research that has no basis in archaeology right now. She's a nice kid, her father was a friend of mine during the war. Sweet man but a bit eccentric. I think she's mourning and she needs other things to do than obsess about her parents' death."

Mutt cocked his head, "Which is why you told me to walk her out?"

"Kid, I had no motive in wanting you to walk her out except that you didn't seem to be getting the impression from her that I was getting."

"I'm confused."

"I could see she was interested. She thought it was funny that you looked down her shirt, not offensive. That means you should pursue."

"Oh…I'm more interested in her bike then her boobs. She has a new Ducati." Mutt's eyes lit remembering that gorgeous bike, "We're racing Friday night."

Indy rolled his eyes and sighed, "At least I know that's not an innuendo."

Mutt rose his eyebrows, "What's an innuendo?"

Indy slung an arm around Mutt's shoulders, "Just focus on that Ducati, Mutt."

a/n

there's a full story in my head but I'm a very sporadic updater. If you like it so far, just put it on story alert and see if it gets more.

First time Indy writer, big Mutt fan.

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

The Jones Boys

The Jones Boys

He was getting nervous that she wasn't going to show up… then again he was there early. Every biker knew you came to a race early; you had to scope out the turf, scope out the competition. Twisting his cap on his head he took out his switchblade and started chiseling at a piece of wood from the ground. There was a lot of crap in the old country road, lots of stuff that could spin a tire out of control. Bikes were heavily dependent on balance, something like a chunk of wood or a spiky rock could end the race before it got well underway. Mutt would never clean a road, especially not when he knew he wouldn't fall on the rubble, but he began to nonchalantly kick various sticks to the side of the road. Not a true clean, just a kick. Let that be how the world saw it as far as he was concerned, he wasn't about to make a marble smooth racing surface. That would be bad anyway for different reasons.

Ten after seven Mutt finally heard the whirl of the Ducati engine. It sounded like a kitten purring, the closer it got it sounded more like the constant warning hum of the Doberman that guarded the junk yard Mutt broke into occasionally as a kid. Marion had almost killed him once because he came home torn apart from the razor wired fences with scratches from a 90 lbs Doberman named Killer. The nickname Mutt had started to stick then. His friends had helped him limp home and when she saw him, Marion smacked him so hard upside the head that he flew backwards onto the grass.

"You dumb mutt that's as good as you deserve! What the hell have you done now?!" Apparently his childhood friends rather liked Dumb Mutt and eventually dropped the Dumb. He liked Mutt, but he'd be the first to say the first year or so of being Dumb Mutt was more than slightly tiresome. Mutt sounded kind of gritty, muddy, and manly. He liked that. Dumb just sounded…dumb. Hence the joy that only his mom remembered that any more.

As for the task at hand, the Ducati engine had stopped purring because Laurel Weston had turned it off and was studying Mutt as he contemplated his past.

"Hey, Mutt!" He jumped a little and she laughed, "Scare ya?"

She was chewing on bubble-gum, a habit he would become the leading advocate against later in their relationship. He thought it made her look like a cow chewing cud, that it distracted from her face which was otherwise pretty. She liked that it distracted from her face, she thought it made her seem cool and gritty. Tough. She liked that.

"Only thing that scares me is how much you're going to be paying for dinner…did I mention I've got quite the appetite?" He smiled and combed his hair. This was the habit she'd grow to fight with him about. They never vocalized that they'd keep their annoying habits for two very important reasons: they liked doing it and it annoyed the other person. Having something to annoy another person is an ability that is often overestimated. Mutt saw it in his parents all the time, Indy flirted with other women and Marion played drinking games with his poker friends. Indy also had a habit of brawling with people that got to close to his wife…then again, Mutt had had to bandage his mother's hand when she broke Lily Wilkerson's nose at the last fourth of July picnic for slipping Indy her phone number in his hot dog bun. Mutt had made a point to tell his mother she was on a year's probation for yelling at him for losing his temper and fighting, for once she actually conceded. That was the year that he and Indy had nearly come to blows…but even Mutt wasn't going to push Marion Ravenwood that far.

Laurel rolled her eyes at Mutt, "Quit preening and let's decide the path. I'm hungry too and as I'm going to have to wait for you at the finish line, I'd like to get underway as soon as possible."

Eye flickering with the challenge Mutt held up one finger and started outlining the course. They did a slight preliminary walk to see about any pot-holes, neither one willing to risk their bike on a road flaw just for a small-time race. Then they saddled up, counted down and took off. The path wound around the old country road, dipping down 2 hills, curving around an apple orchard, cutting through the outermost edge of the college grounds by the lacrosse fields, and ended up in front the bar they decided to go to. People who were out walking their dogs or their dates for the night yelled at them as they went by.

"Damn dirty greasers!" One boy yelled and threw a rock after them after he pulled his date away from Mutt's bike _just_ in the nick of time. Laurel almost took out a Well's Fargo man running late deliveries, but she only managed to make him drop the apparently fragile box onto his foot.

As they approached the finish line they were still neck to neck…. Then Laurel began weaving, small trick weaves but they were throwing dirt in Mutt's path. It was getting in his eyes…and he _never_ wore goggles. Right now though he'd rather look like a frog and be able to see then have to….SHIT!

Mutt fell to the side and skidded across the finished line…skidded to a halt right at Laurel Weston's feet and she looked down at him smirking.

"Smooth, Mutt." She reached out a hand, "I bet you aren't feeling quite so hungry anymore, are you?"

He shook his head, "Eat light and swipe beer and we'll be ok."

They both laughed, parked their bikes and went into the bar.

Inside they took a corner booth and Mutt felt oddly nervous, that tingly sensation in the pit of your stomach that first dates after long draughts give you. He swiped two cokes from a table where a jock and his girl were busy dancing by the juke box. Laurel raised an eyebrow, picked hers up, and held it up for a cheers, "To a clean victory."

"Clean my ass, you sabotaged me." He clinked the glass anyway, not really upset to have lost. It was a clean race until the end; if she hadn't pulled something like that he would have done it. Had to admire a girl who did what had to be done…and who wasn't put off by a mild case of Coke Kleptomania.

The waitress ignored them…sometimes the preppy waitresses refused to serve greasers unless confronted.

"Excuse me…" Mutt tried, "Hey, doll!"

The girl pretended she didn't hear.

"Hey, ginger! You got holes in your head or ears? Turn around and take your pencil out of your ass and put it by your little pad." Laurel tapped the girl's calf with her toes and the waitress turned around, already red in the face.

"What do you want?" The waitress was already annoyed to have been the one by them when they decided they wanted service, she wasn't thrilled to have to serve them. She firmly believed they were up to no good and would be poor tippers.

Laurel had been mistaken for a bad tipper before and took out a ten dollar bill, holding it out, "This is yours if you stop acting like we're gonna jip you out of a tip."

The girl perked up…that was one hell of a tip.

"Can I take your order please?"

"Yeah, I'll do a double cheeseburger, rare, with extra onions, no tomato, double pickle and hot sauce. Real hot sauce not that mild junk you throw on chicken wings. And cheese fries…Mutt?" She turned to him.

Mentally, Mutt had been planning that Laurel would do what most girls do. Share a root-beer float, share French fries, and never really eat anything substantial. He heard her ramble off her dinner and started drooling.

"Same, excellent choice. Oh, and two beers." As the waitress walked away he looked back at her, the surprise still on his face.

"Was I supposed to order salad and a water?" Laurel actually looked sheepish for once, as though she may not care if Mutt thought she was tough but she didn't want to cross the line into butch. He didn't seem disgusted or put-off…he seemed…impressed.

"No, I hate it when girls do that. Order whatever the hell you want." He leaned back and put his feet up on a neighboring chair, "So, if you're not from around here where are you from?"

Laurel shrugged, "My family's from England but I don't really want to be there. For now I'm renting an apartment about a five miles outside town. Its small but it lets me keep my dog and the tenants don't mind that I drive a motorcycle…and they shouldn't, most of their cars are louder anyway."

"Which apartment complex?"

"Maplewood."

Mutt nodded, "Some of the guys at work live in Grennich, across the street. It's a pretty nice area. What kind of dog you got?"

"Doberman." Mutt shuttered, "What? You don't like Dobermans?"

"Long story." He smirked.

Laurel leaned in over the table, from where her jacket was buttoned Mutt was once again drawn to the recesses of her breasts, "I got time."

Shaking his head so he'd focus, "Well, my real name ain't Mutt, it's just what I like being called. I got the name cause when I was a kid some friends and me used to break into the junk yard for spare parts. You know, for whatever. Tree houses and shit. Anyway, the junk yard owner had this Doberman named Killer an—"

"Killer? How original."

"Yeah I know, well one day Killer kind of got me. Not really or I think he'd probably have eaten me but he scratched me up good. Then the razor wires at the top of the fence kind of made it worse. So I'm going home and my mom's outside, sees me all messed up. Now you got to appreciate that I drove my mother nuts for… well I still do. I'm a handful for her, not that I do it out of spite. Anyway, she sees me, all messed up, and what does she do? Slaps my head so hard I fall backward, spread eagle on the ground. Called me a stupid mutt that deserved what I got. My friends thought it was funny and it kinda stuck."

Laurel laughed, "Some way to get a nickname! I can't believe your mom hit you for getting hurt!"

Swigging his Coke Mutt shook his head, "You clearly don't know my mom, I'm lucky she didn't shoot me."

They laughed as the cheese fries came down, the waitress eyeing Laurel's hand for the ten bucks and Laurel held it up to prove it was still there. Laurel wished she didn't have to bribe waitresses…but she'd rather bribe the girl than have to get into a fight and wind up changing locations.

Mutt eyed the ten too, thinking he would rather it go towards paying for dinner then making a snotty waitress happy.

"Some carrot on the end of that stick." He motioned to the money with a french fry.

Laurel looked down, "This? Guess so."

"Can I ask you how you paid for that motorcycle? That's a brand new top of the line Ducati." Mutt talked through the half dozen fries in his throat, "I mean, I worked for three years to save up the money for my Harley. Probably would still be working to pay for that bike of yours."

She shrugged, "I… I have money. I don't really like spending it, I feel weird cause I didn't do anything to deserve it. I bought the bike, I rent my apartment… that's kind of it."

"You travel to America?" She shot him a 'mind your business' look and he held up his hands as though he was proving he wasn't armed, "Hey, I'm just making French Fry conversation."

"Pretty probing French Fry conversation."

"You bet," He winked, "Wait til you see what I'll ask you over burgers. Hope you believe in kissing and telling."

She winked back, "Of course not."

Indy and Marion were sitting, drinking a beer and listening to the baseball game on the radio. She could tell Indy was distracted, and not by the exams he was pretending to grade.

"Indy, do you want me to turn the game off?" She asked.

He grunted indistinguishably, turning his head and looking out the window.

"Indy, do you want another beer?"

He grunted again.

"Indiana, do you ever want to see me naked again?"

"Huh?" He turned his head, "What's that about?"

"Your staring out the window like a vegetable and I was trying to get your attention. I see the sex ploy still works."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Of course it works, Marion, I'm still alive."

She got on her knees, folded her arms on the edge of his chair, and leaned her face on her hands, "What's up, Dr. Jones?"

He sighed, "Mutt's on a date."

Marion nodded, thinking that couldn't be the only reason, "He's twenty two. Sometimes twenty two year olds date."

"Yeah its just…nevermind."

Marion stood, cocked out her hip and echoed, "Nevermind? Don't even try that word when you're talking about Mutt. Especially to me. What's the nevermind?"

Indy stood up and started folding the exams, knowing they weren't getting graded on time, for the 9th straight semester in a row. Soon he'd probably set a college record for longest streak of tardy grades by a single professor. He wondered if the Guinness Book had such a record for him to break.

"It's who he's on the date with, I'm just a little nervous for him. But he doesn't really get it, its fine. Not a concern. Its me, I'm trying on the worried dad thing, seeing how I like it."

Marion stared through him and he felt those eyes like lasers, "Indy, what about the girl? Who is she? Is she some kind of criminal?"

Indy laughed, "Criminal? God no, she's an heiress."

That retort just seemed to make Marion mad, "Don't fool with me Indy, who is she?"

He turned to face her, the exasperated-at-Marion tone slipping into his voice, "Laurel Weston, Martin Weston's daughter. The Briar Weston's. The family that funded your father's archaeological digs since he was an undergrad. The family that owns half the museums in England. The family that also owns most of the libraries in Ireland, Wales and Norway."

"Norway?" Marion cocked her head.

"Well due to the family's origin as Irish monastery keepers its likely they re-claimed property that was pillaged by early Viking raids probably along the-"

"Jones!" She snapped him out of lecture mode, "How did she even find Mutt? I thought they had some mansion in England?"

"Well, she came here because her dad used to talk about me. He considered himself an archaeologist but he was really more of a myth researcher. We met during the war, I was actually stationed by his house and I got into a fight with him over museum's hiring grave robbers. We eventually became beer buddies until I was shipped back out. Man made the worst eggs I've ever eaten."

"Indy, get off the eggs."

"Right, anyway, Martin apparently got really into digging into a family myth and he went missing. His wife went to go find him and they both were found dead. That was about a year ago. Laurel, the girl Mutt's with, came to me to see if I could help her figure out what her father was researching but there's nothing I can do to her. She said she felt like strange people have been asking questions about it…I think she's grieving and probably seeing things, making mountains out of molehills. She ran into Mutt in my office and they apparently are racing. She has a Ducati. He's all about the Ducati."

Marion snorted, "Yeah, I'm sure he's completely disinterested her, its all the bike…she pretty?"

"Yeah, blondish hair, short and kind of boyish. Pretty I guess, I don't know what Mutt goes for."

"Anything with a pulse right now." Marion smiled but it faded, "Lost both her parents…any siblings?"

Indy shook his head.

"Do you think she's going to get hurt?" Marion now stared out the window just like Indy did before she bothered him.

"I think they're both going to wind up hurt, but they're twenty two. It happens." He kissed her hairline, "Remember?"

She smiled and leaned against him, "Oh yes I do."

"…So then I'm standing in this bar with my pants around my ankles and my buddy Mike drunk as a skunk throwing darts at me, trying to –"

"Ahem!" The waitress cleared her throat noisily, interrupting Mutt's story, "Will there be anything else?"

"No, just the check." Mutt reached for his wallet to cover the food, as promised. Laurel handed over ten dollars to the waitress, as promised. They were walking out towards the bikes and he suddenly began to get those nervous tingles again. She was getting them too, not that she'd tell him she had them.

She leaned against her bike, facing him, "Thanks for tonight. Sorry I had to wipe the floor with you and your Harley earlier."

"Rematch you anytime." He smiled, "It was a good night."

He had his comb halfway to his head when she grabbed his arm, "Comb your hair one more time and I'm not letting you kiss me good-night."

Mutt's eyebrows shot into his hair and he smirked at her, put the comb into his back pocket, leaned over and kissed her.

Twining her fingers in the loops of his leather jacket she pulled him closer. This felt good, it had been a while since he'd had a solid date like this and actually gotten the kiss at the end. Maybe if he was lucky, there'd be more than a kiss. Laurel wrapped an arm around his neck, keeping the other on his chest and he dipped his under her jacket. Just as he was thinking he was rounding first base, she did it. Quick as lightening she messed up his hair and pulled away from him, giggling like mad.

"You think it's funny?" He wasn't mad, he reached over, head-locked her and rubbed her short, golden hair until it stuck up just as funny as his did.

She was still laughing even as she was reaching into his back pocket, stealing his comb and straightening her own hair. Then she tucked the comb down the front of her shirt, winked at him and said, "See you around, Mutt."

He went home that night really wishing he had tried to get his comb back, and hoping she intended to keep it there for a while.

When he got home, he didn't notice anything different about his parents, but they watched him. Happy he was happy, happy he wasn't _too_ happy, they decided they couldn't tell him not to see an apparently nice girl. Especially one who probably needed to have some fun and get on with her life.

Still, Indy and Marion had a feeling about this whole mess…one of those feelings that don't go away.

a.n—

hey, I updated ! lol, this is rather incredible and slightly out of character, usually it takes longer.

Still, keep hopeing the muse lasts!


	3. Chapter 3

The Jones Boys

The Jones Boys

Mutt had been in and out of the house a lot recently. Marion was beginning to worry. Outside she heard his motorcycle turn off and a few seconds later he was already dashing into his room.

"Hi ma!" He shouted, and his new routine began. He tore off the leather jacket, she heard it hit the floor with a thud. Then he tore off his work shirt and threw it into the hallway, she heard the soft pile of fabric against the hardwood floors. The water rushed through the faucet as he splashed soap on his face, ran grease through his hair, and hurriedly brushed his teeth. There was the short burst of spray from the deodorant…and the inevitable tripping sound as Mutt entirely forgot the shirt in the hall and then cursed as he threw it into the hamper.

As if he was programmed to do it, Mutt was down the stairs with his jacket over one shoulder.

"Ma, going out. Won't be back for dinner." And with a kiss to Marion's cheek he was out the door and on the bike, then out the driveway and gone.

She knew exactly where he was going—to see Laurel. It wasn't that Mutt was gushing about her, far from it. He wasn't gushing at all. He just couldn't wait to see her, after work she was the only thing on his mind. Now, he'd done this before and Marion knew the drill. This meant he liked her and now it was up to whether or not she liked him back and what they decided to do. Up until now, most of the girls didn't like Mutt back, greasers weren't very popular boyfriends. For the ones that did like him back, it didn't last very long. After all, you don't typically bring a greaser home to meet daddy.

Today Indy stormed in just as Mutt waltzed out. He slammed the door behind himself and threw his coat onto a chair angrily.

"That girl is a menace!" He shouted, "Is he out with her again?"

"He just left, why?" Marion was already halfway to the liquor cabinet and pouring them both a drink. Something about Indy's intonation made her feel like she was going to need it, and so was he.

"She's just so….URGH!" He could only shout to express his frustration, "She was in my office for over an hour today telling me that she really thinks someone was following her father's research and someone killed him. But they may not be the same person. These are all hunches, Marion, hunches!"

Gulping down his whiskey, he paused and stared at the glass, "I think she may have a point, there are a lot of funny questions left after her father's death. But this kid has no proof of anything. She's just gathering info trying to duplicate her father's research. She's trying to do in a year what took him a lifetime. She's full of hunches, but no leads. I can't…"

"You can't just lead her on to believing you can solve all her problems, solve all her mysteries, when there's no proof you can use to even prove there are mysteries. I get it, you won't get her hopes up. But she won't understand it. And our son is dating her. Cheers." Marion clinked her glass to Indy's empty one and downed her whiskey in a shot.

Indy was still staring at his glass, "You think they're dating or sleeping together?"

Marion choked on her whiskey, "Indy! I never want those images in my head!"

"It's a fair question Marion, he's twenty two. Twenty two year old boys are nothing but hormones!"

"So are fifty two year old men who are Jones men. It's a genetic thing, he was born hormonal." Marion rubbed her chest where the whiskey had burned her on its way down, "Indy I don't know… Mutt seems to like her. He's going through the normal like-a-girl routine."

"He could like sex…I'd preen for sex too."

Marion cuffed her husband upset his head, "Stop it. Is she a homicidal maniac or a girl who is dealing with incredibly difficult things, struggling with that, and looking for distractions?"

"The latter choice… I don't want him to get hurt, Marion."

Indy wrapped an arm around Marion's waist. This parenthood thing was much harder than it looked.

Mutt was into Laurel. No two ways about it. He felt himself doing his after work peacock routine (as his mother used to call it) and rushing to the bar they had gone to on that first date. They had developed a reputation for leaving 10 tips thanks to Laurel so there was usually a fight to see who got to serve them. Then they'd ride around town and eventually head into the woods and make out. Then maybe they'd catch a movie or play pool or something. It wasn't the most exciting life, but Mutt liked it. And not that sex was the all important thing, but for now in his life it was. And he was thinking he was getting it soon.

One thing that had remained an unspoken rule was not asking too many questions. Both of them were happy to have something wholly uncomplicated by knowledge. What had been said the first day about parents, families, and Dr. Jones was all that had been said. She had casually mentioned her family had money, that she had been born in England but her mother had put her in American schools. That was about all Mutt got except for funny anecdotes from boarding school or summer camp when she was younger – and that was fine by him! He was playing much the same game, anything before his Peruvian excursion with his family was fair game, but he offered very limited details about after.

Since both of them were hiding the truth, and they were both aware of it to some degree, they had made an unspoken pact to let it go.

Until today, that is. Laurel wasn't at the bar. When Mutt got there two of the servers elbowed up to him, "Hey, are you and your girl hungry? Stopping in for a bite? Can I get you a table?"

"Uh…maybe, is Laurel here?"

The red headed server from the first day shook her head at him, "No, I saw her storm off on her bike a while ago, looked pretty angry. Not fighting with you?"

"Nah….at least I don't think so. I was at work until twenty minutes ago…what direction did she head off in?"

"Carlin Street." The red-head shrugged, "You think you two will stop back?"

"Dunno doll, if we do, we do."

He walked out of the bar, it seemed unlikely to him that Laurel would skip out and not leave him a message. After fifteen minutes of waiting to see if she was late he hopped onto his bike and took off down Carlton. There was a wooded area with a small lake and a few benches that the two of them had gone to a few times in the last two weeks, and he thought he'd start there. Luckily she was standing by the lake, throwing rocks across the smooth surface until it was rippling like a mini tempest. She looked angry.

"SON OF A BIIIIITCH!" She yelled and threw a larger rock in, the waves this time upsetting the local geese.

Mutt hoped he wasn't the son of a bitch, and mentally started going through their last few conversations to see if there was something he was supposed to have done or somewhere he was supposed to have gone. After a few minutes he came up with nothing, and could only assume it was someone else. He turned the bike off and let the twinge of jealousy show, "Whose one? You got another son of a bitch in your life I should know about?"

Laurel turned around with a shriek, "Mutt! You scared me!"

"You scared the geese, it's a fair trade….what's wrong?"

She walked over to him and kissed him hard, trying to pull the conversation somewhere else…actually trying to stop the conversation entirely. For once, Mutt didn't want to stop talking. He wanted to know why she was upset…he just hoped he wasn't going to regret asking.

"No," He pulled back from her, "Tell me what's wrong…why are you screaming at nobody?"

She sighed and started gnawing on her gum loudly, something she did when she was carefully choosing her words.

"Dr. Jones won't help me…I'm just tired of him treating me like I'm some half-wit who can't understand anything."

"Did he say that?" Mutt bristled, he hated when Indy started treating people like idiots because they didn't get their doctorate before they were twenty five.

"No," Laurel sighed, "He just won't help me. I keep asking, I think I need his help, and he won't do it. Says I don't have enough proof."

"What do you need help with? Maybe I can help you? I'm no half-wit either, you know." He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her.

One last sigh and she seemed to release the stress balled up inside of her, "Thanks, but I don't think you're necessarily qualified."

Mutt dropped his hands, "What's that supposed to mean? I said I ain't stupid."

"I know! Don't get your panties in a twist!"

"Well what do you mean then?!" Mutt flung his hands in the air, "Jeez! I rush out the house to come see you, then I gotta come looking for you, now I'm trying to make you feel better and you're saying I can't do anything? Like I'm some kind of moron?"

"Mutt its not that!"

Laurel began to rub her temples, "If I thought you could help me I'd ask you, but I don't think you can?"

"What's that old man got that I don't got?" He was happy he had restrained himself from saying 'my old man' and was oddly surprised to see how naturally calling Indiana 'dad' was becoming.

"A doctorate degree in archaeology and a reputation for finding things that don't exist." She covered her face with her hands, "I'm done talking about this, I was in a bad mood, then you made me not be in a bad mood and then managed to send me right back into one. Let's do something that makes us both happier?"

Laurel sauntered over to him, sat on his lap and started to kiss him and touch him… Mutt truly appreciated how much he had to like her to once more stop her.

"Can we at least get out of here?" He nuzzled her cheek, he didn't want her to use him just now… he wanted to calm her down, he wanted her to appreciate that he cared enough to try.

"Let's go to my apartment…you can meet The Judge."

"The Judge?"

"Judgement, my dog…he would be at the apartment. Hope you aren't really clinging onto a childhood fear of Dobermans."

"Is he really a Doberman?" Mutt winced slightly.

"There's really nothing to be afraid of…unless I tell him to attack." Laurel smiled mischievously, "And I promise, I'll be the only one attacking you. The good kind of attack."

Mutt smirked, that sounded like a good plan. He watched her go back to her bike, rev it up and lead the way back to her apartment. Half of him couldn't help but think he was stupid to push her to talk, the other part was thinking he was stupid to stop pushing her to talk more.

Laurel's little rented apartment was on the other side of town. On the way over the two bikers swirled around each other, played chicken with passing cars, and generally entertained themselves doing stunts that were more than slightly dangerous. As they were getting closer to the apartment Mutt was still struggling with what to do. In her apartment she might feel safer, she might open up…. Then again she might also open up more than her mouth if he played his cards right. He was young, and it was tough to be serious sometimes when having fun was so easy. Maybe later they would talk…he really shouldn't pass up an opportunity like this when it was staring him in the face.

At least that was his thought until Laurel swerved to a stop abruptly and he almost ran into her.

"Jeez! I almost hit you, babe! Why'd you--"

He looked up and didn't need to finish that question…there was an apartment with an open door with an obviously broken lock. Someone had forced their way into that place, and given the look on Laurel's face it wasn't hard to tell whose apartment it was. Laurel let her bike fall to the ground as she took off at a run. Mutt grabbed his switchblade and opened it, desperately hoping that he wouldn't need it…or if he did, that he wasn't going to wish he had bought that gun he was eyeing upon his return from Peru.

"Judge!...JUDGE!" Laurel cried out for her dog, she was almost to the door when Mutt cried, "Laurel! Don't go in!"

But she didn't listen. She ran in without looking, as Mutt followed close behind he could see her going throw strewn papers, lifting up turned over tables, and she was tearing up, looking for her pet. Mutt could've told her what she'd find given that the dog hadn't greeted them at the remains of the door…but she had to find it for herself. In her bedroom, curled up on what looked to be his dog bed, was a giant Doberman. Mutt was sort of happy it was dead, because it probably weighed close to 100lbs. But with the blood all around it, the gaping bullet hole, and the heart-wrenching wail that Laurel was crying it was hard to be relieved. In fact, Mutt was just more and more alarmed. Someone shot the dog, raided the house, and left? Did they take anything? It might take hours to figure that out…in the meantime…

"Laurel…Laurel!" She looked up from beside her dog, "Baby, we got to go. Whoever did this is probably still around and we don't want to be here when they see you're home. We have to get as far away from here as we can and we have to call the police."

Laurel looked devastated. Usually she was pretty calm, pretty unemotional. She was flirty, she was light but she never really looked sad. This was just sad and frightened.

"No…not the police. At home the police didn't do anything, they just say that they're very sorry but there's nothing they can do."

"Laurel, we have to leave…do you hear me? We have to leave." He knelt down beside her, "Babe, you have to get up. We have to leave….Judgement's gone, we can't help him. We have to leave."

Her whole face went stony and she stared at the remains of her dog. She pet his face and then wiped her eyes and looked at Mutt, "You got to take me back to school."

"School?! Why?"

"I need to see Dr. Jones….Mutt this has to do with my parents. They were researching something, something like Dr. Jones would probably be interested in and they were killed. Whoever killed them thinks I have whatever they found or I know whatever they know…they've been watching me, following me…I know it! They did this! They killed my dog and they'll kill me too! Kill me when they realize I don't have anything or know anything! Dr. Jones can help me! He can help me! He was a friend of my dad's and he can help me, we have to find him!"

She was crying, sobbing, and Mutt reached out and held her against him for a moment, stroked her hair…but he didn't have a choice. A minute later he picked her up and carried her back to his bike, sat her in the sissy bars and got in front of her.

"Laurel, hold on tight….do you hear me?"

Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist was all the answer he needed, Mutt took off like a bullet.

She knew that this wasn't the way to school…something was wrong.

"MUTT!" She screamed over the noise of the air rushing past, "THIS IS THE WRONG WAY!"

"NO IT'S NOT, TRUST ME!" Mutt pulled up in front of his house and took a deep breath, "We're here."

"This isn't the school."

"No, but this is where Jones lives. He's probably inside." Mutt got off the biked and helped Laurel, her legs weren't very steady under her. He wondered if whoever had trashed the house had seen them…had followed them. Had he just gotten his mom involved in all this? Hadn't he sworn he was never going to let her get herself into that kind of danger again?

Before he could think about it, Marion was outside the door.

When Mutt's bike was outside, Marion sensed a problem. Big problems. Danger. Her mother-sense was simply screaming that Mutt needed her. She ran out front without an explanation and Indy, out of curiosity, followed her.

"Mutt!" She called out when she saw him supporting a girl she assumed was the infamous Laurel, "Mutt, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you inside, mom."

"Mom? Mom! You brought me to your house? Mutt I Need To Speak To Dr. Jones!" Laurel emphasized each word by hitting Mutt's arm.

As if on cue Indy came onto the porch, "Junior? What's going on?"

"Don't call me that!" Mutt yelled, "Get inside, I'll explain!"

"Junior?" Laurel eyed Mutt, "Is he….are you? I'm confused. Is this Indiana Jones' house?"

"Laurel…this is Indiana Jones' house. That's my mom…and he's my dad."

"Get inside, Mutt…hi, you must be Laurel. I'm Mutt's mom…call me Marion. We'll do the small talk later, for right now let's talk about important things….broken bones? Torn ligaments? Sprained ankles?" Laurel shook her head each time, "Knife wounds? Gun shot wounds? Motorcycle accident?"

"Negative Marion…her apartment was raided. Broken door, broken lock." Mutt helped Laurel sit on the couch, "They killed her dog and decimated the place, it's a mess. She's not hurt but she's in shock. I thought we'd be safer far away from there."

"So you brought her here…does this look like a police station, Mutt?" Indy was taking in Laurel's state and knew what was inevitably going to come out of someone's mouth.

"I'm sorry Pops, I figured what with you refusing to help and possibly contributing to the fact that if she was home this afternoon she might be kidnapped or dead that you may want to make it up to her by helping her now…silly thought of mine, you know how it is. I'm young and crazy." He stormed into the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.

Mutt sat next to Laurel and put an arm around her, rubbed her arm as she drank her water and watched his parents exchange The Look. He didn't quite understand what The Look was, but it seemed like a magical communication method to most on-lookers. When they used The Look it seemed like Indy and Marion read each other's minds and right now whatever they were reading wasn't very pleasant.

"You're right, kid. We need to figure out what's going on." Indy pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do you have any idea who would do this? Or what they want?" Marion asked.

"No…I think it has to do with my parents but I don't know…they didn't tell me anything. They didn't leave me anything."

"It has to do with your parents….I never expected your father would get in as deep as he did, usually there's nothing to get in to. If you think the Holy Grail or the Crystal Skull was a long shot…your dad was functioning with practically no evidence to back up his claims except bedtime stories that have been passed down, not through cultures, but through just one family. Yours."

"They're pretty good stories." Laurel mumbled defensively.

"Pops, what are these people looking for?"

"If they're looking for what Martin Weston was looking for…. Atlantis."

"Atlantis? Lost city under the sea?" Marion humphed.

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that Marion.

"It always is, Indy….it always is."

a/n

hey, this is relatively good time for me. Usually once I take a break from updating it lasts for months. I have a couple of one shots in my head for Mutt too, hes my latest character o choice to play with.

Let me know how u like this.

And I know theres another atlantis storyline floating around but I guarantee there will be great degrees of difference

Review!!


	4. Chapter 4

a/n- I know there are some upset folks that I killed The Judge but I'd like to explain:

a/n- I know there are some upset folks that I killed The Judge but I'd like to explain: originally I felt the dog could accompany the family on the inevitable adventure but much like I was bothered by Mutt's disappearing/reappearing motorcycle in the movie I felt that there was far too much to consider with the dog. How does he get to and from places? Once he's there who's walking him? When is he getting fed? Wouldn't any possible spelunking be hard for him? And wouldn't it be cute for after all this nonsense is said and done for Mutt to buy a puppy?

So though I felt bad about killing him off, since he was already in a published chapter and I'd rethought the idea I had no choice. Besides, makes the mysterious stalkers seem all the more menacing.

So sorry if it offended, but I promise The Judge will be avenged….

The Jones Boys

"What is it with you and things that don't exist?" Mutt asked Indy, feeling harassed and overwhelmed.

"Indy…what kind of complexity are we talking here? Is it like… Atlantis is an alternate dimension city or like 'people think Atlantis is this but its really this' kind deal? Like the Grail?"

"What do you mean like the Grail?" Mutt asked and redirected himself to Indy, "What does she mean about the Grail, Old Man? What Grail?"

"The Holy One….aren't Grails hard to come by after that one?" Indy shook his head and looked at Marion, "It's more like that, I suppose."

"Like what?" Mutt asked.

"It isn't what it seemed."

"Cut the mysterious bullshit and be direct!"

"Watch your mouth, Junior!" Indy and Mutt were yelling an inch from each other's faces and were growing more and more red, angrier by the second. Marion brought her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing, shrieking whistle and everyone turned to face her.

"Indy, bullshit isn't helping. Mutt, the Holy Grail is something everyone thinks is this big, elaborate King Arthur myth but its not. It has more to do with some Arthimatic guy and its apparently very simple."

"Joseph of Arimathea." Indy huffed, "And its not exactly simple, its not easy to carve wood so seamlessly and inlay it with bronze."

Mutt and Laurel stared at Indy, open-mouthed.

"You…saw the Holy Grail." Mutt licked his lips, "How?"

"Long story…your grandfather's life was actually saved by it. Another time, we'll get into the whole messy thing."

Laurel let out a long breath and then blew her nose, "At least I'm talking to the right guy."

"I'll say." Mutt slouched against the couch, one arm around Laurel and the rest of him limp in amazement, "The Holy friggin Grail? Honestly?"

"Watch your mouth, Henry, or I'll have to teach you better manners."

Laurel giggled, "Henry? Your name's Henry?"

"So's his!" Mutt pointed a finger at Indy accusingly, as though it was all Indiana's fault that they were both named Henry, and that they both resented their names.

"DON'T make me whistle again." Marion's tone silenced the group, "Now, calmly, slowly, and without talking over each other, someone explain what's going on."

All eyes flew to Indy but he motioned to Laurel, "Lady's first."

"Well, my dad's family are really old…really old. No other family can do what we can do, which is trace our lineage unbroken to the year 800A.D." Laurel blushed, "The Roman Empire was so large that Emperor Diocletian thought it couldn't be ruled by one man, so he divided it into East and West halves and gave each half two kings, a junior and a senior. That didn't last and Constantine took over, but the Western half of Rome was never as stable and it fell to the barbarians. The East followed and for a while the whole of the Roman Empire was overrun with barbarian tribes. They lost most of their governmental organization, their culture, their learning….everything. It was like the slate was wiped clean. The Roman Empire had never encompassed Ireland and so it had absorbed a lot of Roman culture but not been effected by the fall of the West. Thus Ireland became the seat of all culture, the sole reason that such knowledge has persisted."

She took a sip of water and let that much information sink in, "The Irish inadvertently spread the culture back, they never really set out to do it. Ireland is a monastic culture and some of the monks believed that the only way to know God fully was to go into exile and live with nothing but The Word."

"What word?" Mutt asked and Indy hit him upside his head, "Oh, _The_ Word. God. Gotcha."

"Right, well they assumed that the world was empty outside Ireland, so they were surprised to keep finding people. And they kept teaching these people what they knew, re-establishing order and starting monasteries. Bringing back the culture. Another way the Irish inadvertently spread the culture was because they were raided by the Vikings, so the Vikings learned from what they stole and they passed it to others they conquered.

"My family was started by one of those wandering monks, Aloysius of Kells. He was one of a fraction of monks who decided that outside life was better than inside life…or at least decided to get married. He married the daughter of a local shaman, or holy man of some sort. He built our family house in England…or at least the foundations, its been almost constantly renovated."

Marion cocked her head, "How is it possible that its never changed hands? That its never been overtaken or knocked down?"

Laurel shrugged her shoulders, "Dad used to say that what the house means, what the family means, are too important. That people kept it because they had to."

"What does it mean?" Mutt asked.

"We're some sort of guardians…"

"Of the Lost City of Atlantis?" Mutt tried to follow and Laurel looked to Indiana, silently asking him to explain Atlantis. Before you knew the background, the rest wouldn't make as much sense.

"Atlantis wasn't exactly a city…it was a city built around a shrine. There are plenty of ancient cities that began as religious centers and the myth of Atlantis predates the Romans, and the Greeks…it may have Minoan roots, but its almost impossible to tell because Minoan culture is 95 percent mystery, it was that way when the Greeks found it. Whatever may have existed before the Minoans in the Mediterranean is anyone's guess…anyway, some of the stories suggest some rites that we associate but cannot definitely say are Minoan.

"There is a story from the Greeks about Agememnon and his daughter Iphogenia…any takers or has no one in here studied Greek mythology?" Indy gave Mutt a poignant look, knowing it was one of his classes.

"Agememnon was a fictional king, one of a race that the Greeks made up. His brother was married to Helen of Troy and Agememnon lead the Greeks against the Trojans, he had to kill his daughter Iphogenia so that a Goddess would give the fleet sailing winds." Mutt smirked arrogantly, almost daring Indy to test him again.

"Not kill, sacrifice."

"Same difference." Mutt shrugged.

"Not to the people doing it."

"Same thing to the people its being done to." Mutt countered.

"Stop being a wise-ass Mutt, and Indy stop being a prick." Marion's voice was tense, she was going to be happy when they stopped throwing barbs at one another, whenever that was.

"Human _sacrifice_," Indy continued, "was probably used at some point. Animal sacrifice has been in practice since probably the dawn of time, but early man and even ancient man saw some connection between human spirits, animal spirits and the divine. Human-animal hybrids represent holy or divine beings in countless cultures, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Minoan, Assyrian, Akkadian and on and on. In many of these religions, cultures, the idea persists that if a human can lose its animal side it is a more pure divinity, a divinity devoid of the chaos and lack of control often associated with animals. We generally attribute this idea to the Greeks but it could pre-date them, again, that area is a bit shady.

"After Rome took over the Greek states the knowledge of cult religions became more widespread. Cult religions just mean they were secretive, they usually required an initiation and then you were allowed to participate in services. Its highly likely that these cults pre-date this time by as much as a thousand years, however it seems the Romans weren't the best at keeping secrets because we find many remains, a lot of evidence about these cult religions. And with initiation at its peak during the Roman Empire, obviously someone's telling someone something about these cults.

"But there was certainly a hierarchy. Cults that were more like after-school clubs and clubs that were serious business. Now, here's where Laurel and I start to differentiate. There is _some_ suggestion in other writings, but no free-standing evidence, that there was a cult to Atlantis. Atlantis was a weapon as common myth suggests, but it wasn't like some ancient button or gun. The weapon could be interpreted as the power of a deity that controlled the seas and when appeased would grant boons to those who made her happy. The deity was Atlantis, an early form of Earth Mother Goddess that was later replaced by the male god Neptune. The way someone made her happy was to give her attendants, but the only way for humans to be given to a goddess was to be killed. Virgins were typically sacrificed."

"Why virgins?" Mutt asked, Marion gave him a look that clearly said 'Shut up and listen' but Mutt indignantly huffed, "It's a reasonable question!"

"Well, sacrifices that were female were typically seen as gifts of attendants or wives, either way you want to give someone something that can be theirs and only theirs. Since women were the property of whatever man owned them, only virgin daughters were pure because they hadn't left their father's homes and become property of their husbands."

"Anyway," Laurel started, "There are whispers of the cult Atlantis in the documents we have of other cults, references such as 'it shall not be as Atlantis' but there isn't any proof, most writing talk about Atlantis as a mythical city that was sunken under the sea.

"But in my family, there's a story. Atlantis was a deity worshipped far and wide, seen as being the ocean itself. Unpredictable, rewarding and dangerous. To control the sea was the greatest power they could image because the sea was so central to them, to the Mediterranean people, to the English people, to the Egyptian people…to any people who lived by a body of water that dictated their livelihood and survival. Which is almost all of them. Legend says that Atlantis could be appeased by company, which is why she drowned people or sunk ships. There was a small island where almost every boat that came by it sank, where people rarely swam because of how many drowned. It was seen as the seat of Atlantis' palace. Men who wanted to offer her gifts would have to come here to ask her for favorable winds. If she let you on the island, you were already favored. To further earn her favor, you had to give her companionship. They would sacrifice their daughters to her.

"Any man could come, but it was said only one king came, and his request was so great that he sacrificed one hundred girls to Atlantis. These girls he did not burn, because he did not want Atlantis to forget them and curse the waters before his war was done. So he laid them in gold and ivory tombs, built a magnificent mausoleum around them. In later years these girls were worshipped as the favored children of Atlantis, their tomb fiercely defended.

"My father's diaries recount the family story, which is that the cults that survived into Roman time inducted members by having them sacrifice a daughter to Atlantis at the tomb of the Favored Daughters and leave a gift of gold for them. Since the island was hard to get to because of crossed currents and other naturally difficult obstacles, many of these pilgrims died. This made the Cult of Atlantis hardcore and something you didn't join unless you really needed it.

"The Roman Emperor Constantine was said to be so greedy for power that he desired to know the location of the temple, to plunder it. None of the members would tell him, and he had them decapitated. Their heads were displayed on top of his triumphal arch. It was said then that Constantine searched the world over, and never found it. Thus did the legend happen to become that Atlantis sank under the sea."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Mutt broke it, "That's it?"

"Not exactly…my dad said that one of the cult members escaped and fled to Ireland, outside the reach of Constantine. There he told the story of Atlantis. Five hundred years later, Aloysius in his studies had stumbled upon the story, believed it, and followed the directions to the sanctuary. When he found it, he pledged that the tributes to Atlantis would never again be discovered, so monstrous did he find the practices he found there. And so tempting, because of how richly outfitted Atlantis and her Daughters were. Thus he built a house and vowed his house would always hide Atlantis from the world. Hiding it means that we must know where it was. My dad was obsessed…he wanted nothing more than to find it.

"And he did. He must have. That's why someone killed him! They didn't want him to find it! Or they didn't want to share the discovery with him!" Laurel finished and seemed ready to cry again.

Marion and Mutt looked at Indy accusingly, as though they couldn't understand why he hadn't jumped at the opportunity to help her sooner.

"Laurel's forgetting the part where she only has her father's diary and the bedtime stories he told her. I've gone through the diary, but there's nothing in there but the bedtime stories. He didn't record his research there. And Laurel doesn't know where he kept it. Without whatever discoveries her father made, without some kind of clue, we have nothing to go forward on. All we have are people who are apparently convinced enough of all this that it appears they killed Laurel's parents and are targeting her." Indy sighed, "She said her parent's hotel room was found raided, but the authorities couldn't determine if anything was taken. It's likely they took whatever was useful, and that it wasn't enough. They think there is more, and that Laurel has it."

"And if I have it, I have no idea what it was. It could've been something I brought with me, it could be something at home…" Laurel rested her head on Mutt's shoulder, "The police back home have been keeping a very close eye on my house, its one of those houses that they just make a habit of driving past. Plus it has as advanced an alarm system as we could get… I think I'd know if someone had been in there."

Marion pinched the bridge of her nose, Mutt noted it as a habit she had picked up from Indy, "Well, I don't think there's anything we can do tonight. We're going to lock the doors, load the gun and try and get some sleep. Assuming they don't come for us tonight…I suppose we leave tomorrow?"

Indy nodded but Mutt looked unsure, "We should go back to her apartment first, try to figure out what's there and if they took anything."

"And bury The Judge." Laurel added and Mutt nodded in agreement, "And that."

"The Judge?" Indy asked with an expression like he thought he may not want to know.

"My dog…they killed my dog. My parents and my dog." The tears welled up behind Laurel's eyes, "I just want it to be over, but I guess we have to start it first. It won't go away on its own."

"Afraid not, honey." Indy reached out a hand to help her up, "Come on, there's a really comfortable sofa in my office."

"She can sleep in my bed." Mutt offered.

"No!" Both his parents harped in unison, Marion slinging an arm around Mutt's shoulders, "No, its ok. She'll be fine. The study is by everyone, its warm, its dry and its separated from your bed by a solid oak door, a lock and a key that's going to be around my neck until morning."

Mutt rolled his eyes, "Mom, do you really think I'm gonna try something at a time like this?"

"Yes. You are your father's son and let's just say I've been around Indy in times like this, and its _exactly_ what he would do."

Mutt shuttered, "In the future, keep that kind of information to yourself."

Marion kissed Mutt's cheek, and ushered him into his room with the threat of a surprise bed-check during the night. As much as Mutt was uncomfortable with Marion and Indy's sex life, she was twice as uncomfortable with the thought of her sweet, darling baby boy having sex under her roof with a girl who was marked by mysterious and malicious forces.

a/n

so some of that rumbling is true, some of it is fabricated, I guess I'll let the adventurous readers sort it out….

Review!!


	5. Chapter 5

The Jones Boys

The Jones Boys

Mutt had been brushing his teeth for ten mintues. Brush in the mouth, actively brushing, for ten minutes straight. He was trying to hold out until his parents were in their room and sleeping so that he could sneak over to Laurel's room and see how she was doing. And see how she was getting ready for bed. After all, there weren't any clothes here for her. Was she sleeping in her day clothes or was she going naked? This was a very important question for Mutt to answer. Monumentally important to answer. By seeing.

He was also worried about her, she was in danger. Real danger, the kind that he'd only ever experienced once before in the wilds of South America. Apparently his parents made a habit out of life threatening situations but Mutt was still shocked by them and it appeared Laurel shared his sentiments. Hence, he should comfort her and revel in their mutual shock at people killing each other over pieces of rock and dust from hundreds of years ago…and maybe she'd be naked when he comforted her. That was simply a risk he'd have to take.

From down the hall Indy watched both the sliver of light in Mutt's bathroom and the clock. Ten minutes…now eleven. The boy was obviously stalling going to bed, and Indy didn't have to be genetically linked to him to know why. Marion was adamant that Mutt and Laurel not have anything to do with one another until tomorrow morning when they could once more be fully supervised. Marion wasn't really ready to accept any form of sexual contact going on in the Jones house outside her own bedroom…well, her bedroom and occasionally the kitchen floor but that was a separate issue. Indy had to admire the kid's endurance…and he sympathized. Once there was the grad student that came to stay under his father and let's just say, Indy studied under her with some frequency and knew what it was like to brush your teeth for twelve minutes waiting for the coast to be clear.

"Is he still brushing his teeth?" Marion huffed as she washed her face, "Its going on fifteen minutes. This is ridiculous."

"Look at it this way, the longer Laurel's under this roof the less likely Mutt is to ever get a cavity. The dentist bills will be spectacular." Indy smirked, "Marion, let the boy alone."

Her eyebrows squeezed together, "I don't want to."

Indy pulled her close and kissed her, "So does that mean your going to leave me alone…all night?"

Marion sighed, "I suppose I can give you some attention."

"Some?" Indy feigned hurt, "Some?"

He leaned over and kissed her properly…it was clear Marion was starting to forget about Mutt and his potential love interest.

When the light under the master bedroom's door went out, Mutt rinsed his mouth out. At least if he got to kiss Laurel he wouldn't have to be worried about his breath. He was in his plain white t-shirt, and long boxers. Maybe it was presumptuous to think that was appropriate attire to visit Laurel in, but he was sincerely hoping she was dressed in a t-shirt and underwear also. So wouldn't it be rude to be more dressed than her?

He was in front of the study where they'd set up Laurel for the night. As he prepared to knock he heard something from inside…Laurel had to be talking to herself or something, there wasn't anyone else in the house. Still, Mutt listened, indignantly thinking she'd smuggled some other guy in under his nose.

"_Me and Mr. Jones, we got a thing going on, we both know that it's wrong but it's much too strong to let it go now, we meet everyday at the same café. Six thirty and no one knows he'll be there. Holding hands, making plans, while the jukebox plays our favorite song, me and Mr. Jones…" _

She was singing…about his father? Mutt scrunched his nose, _What the hell?_

Suddenly the door opened and he was caught listening in at her.

Laurel smiled at him softly, "Enjoying yourself Mr. Jones?"

_Oh, I'm a Jones. Right. Forgot. Stupid, Mutt. _

"You sound good…I was wondering how you were doing?" His eyes scanned her wardrobe, she was wearing a short night dress, "Where did you get your dress?"

"Your mom."

Mutt shook his head, "I'm going to dismiss that fact from my mind."

Laurel smirked, "Totally understandable."

She opened the door, "Wanna come in?"

Mutt tried not to be too excited and walked in, and saw the blankets and pillows on top of his father's favorite couch. Mutt had slept there a time or two, and at least he knew it would be comfortable for Laurel.

She closed the door behind them and the hairs on the back of Mutt's neck stood up. Please, God, don't let Marion keep good on her promise to check them. And please let that closed door mean something important to Mutt and his sex life. And please, please, please let him not spontaneously remember that she was wearing his mother's clothes during any potentially important events.

"So…" Mutt turned to her, "how are you doing with everything?"

Laurel shrugged her shoulders and plopped into Indy's chair, her skirt flying up slightly as her weight crashed into the chair. Mutt stared, mentally willing the fabric to creep higher but also trying to listen to her. He vaguely remembered being genuinely concerned. Vaguely. Distantly….._focus!_

"I mean…I guess ok. I don't really feel anything. I've been like that for awhile, ever since my folks… its like I'm just numb. You know? I can't really deal with it so I don't. I guess when this is all said and done, I've got a lot to sort out." She sighed, picked dirt from under her fingernails and looked at Mutt, "What about you? Bet you never had to deal with stuff like that."

He let out a breath, "Well, a couple years ago there was this trip to Peru, enlightening. For example, I had no idea who my real father was until two years ago. Hence Jones in there…"

"I was gonna ask you about that….so that's why your name isn't Jones? How does that work in class?"

"In class is just…class. I dunno. I'm good at history, he calls on me sometimes when I know the answer. But, yeah my mom married my step father when I was about a year old, so I always just thought he was my dad. He died in the war and mom never really picked anyone else up…then an old friend of ours went missing, mom was kidnapped trying to find him, and during the scuffle with the KGB it sorta came out that Jones was my dad."

Laurel's eyes got wide at the summary, "That's….intense."

"Yeah." Mutt shrugged.

The conversation had not contributed to any sort of physical touching, petting, cuddling, or sex. This was a slight disappointment to Mutt because he was not horribly aware that they were both in their underwear, his parents were sleeping and it seemed that he could really get away with staying here with Laurel. Why, oh why, did he have to get into Peru?!

Laurel got up and crossed over to where Mutt was standing by the bookshelf, "Mutt, I think after tomorrow there's going to be some running away…some running all over the place. I'm going to ask your dad to come but I don't know that I want you to come. I don't want you to get hurt…I like you. I don't really know what I intended at the start of this but I just know I don't want you hurt."

Mutt was touched, few people cared about his physical safety and he appreciate it, but he ran his thumb over Laurel's cheek and chuckled, "You, obviously, do not know my family. If the old man's going, Mom's going. If my three favorite people are going, what makes you think I'm staying behind? There will definitely be running, probably shooting, and occassionally a bull whip."

"Bull whip?"

"You'll see." Mutt cocked her head so that her lips were an inch from his, he wrapped his other arm around her back, "I don't want you to get hurt either, so I guess I'm going to have to go just to watch your butt."

Laurel smiled, "You'd watch my butt if it was in danger or not."

"It's a nice butt, I'm just a guy, we look."

Laurel wrapped her arms around his neck, "Speaking of looking…think your folks are going to look in?"

"Hope not." Mutt leaned in and kissed her.

To his credit, to his _great_ credit, Mutt eventually kissed her good-night and went to his own bed. In the morning he and Laurel both eyed each other over breakfast and Indy smirked. When Laurel helped Marion with the dishes, Indy playfully punched Mutt's arm.

"I'm happy you got past your mother last night. But if you don't keep the ga-ga eyes to a minimum your mother's going to catch on and kill you for doing and me for distracting her from stopping you."

Mutt looked at Indy, his expression slightly worried, "Nothing happened."

Indy returned to his paper, unimpressed, "If it didn't, my money is it will."

"I like her." Indy looked up and saw Mutt's eyes, "Legitimately. I don't really know what to do with that. Like…I could've stayed. I could've. All the cards were down…and I left. I kissed her good-night and went to my own room."

"You want some sort of medal for resisting your hormonal impulses and listening to your emotional impulses?" Indy put his paper down and sipped his coffee, realized Mutt wanted more out of him and focused on his son, "Listen Mutt…be careful. Your getting to that age where your getting out of the idiot stage but you still do stupid things. And you don't know what's stupid and what's smart. From me to you, on women, take your time before you commit to an emotion. Because once you commit to it, you have to deal with it. And loving someone ain't easy."

"I've never loved somebody." Mutt nodded to Laurel in the next room, "I don't know that she's around me to be with me or to distract her. But I like her."

"There's no short answer, you gotta wait this one out Junior."

"Don't call me Junior."  
They paused and both of them drank coffee, then Mutt looked at Indy over the rim, "One more thing…"

"Yeah Junior—"

"Don't call me Junior."

"Yes, Henry?" Indy raised his eyebrows as Mutt rolled his eyes.

"Given our whole paternal situation and your…um, thorough past with women…."

Indy puffed out his chest, thinking Mutt was going to ask for sincere advice when Mutt blurted out, "There's _absolutely, completely, totally_ no way she's my sister right? I mean, you never even laid eyes on her mother, right? Right? Because it's not that something's happened that incest would be an issue but in the event it does, I want to just have that base covered."

Indy choked on his coffee, "No she's not your sister…I met her mother once over brunch when her father made me the worst eggs benedict I have ever tasted and, as I recall, Laurel was already at boarding school at the time. So I knew her mom for an hour or so and I promise, there is no chance you're related to your girlfriend."

Mutt let out a breath.

"But Mutt, on the subject…a base you should take great care to cover is birth control."

"Jones!" Mutt blushed and looked to the other room, hoping with everything he had that the women couldn't hear them over the running water.

"I'm saying, think of it this way: unless you're going to marry this girl and kids aren't a problem, condoms are cheaper then babies. A lot cheaper."

"I could always access the Jones gene in me and not raise them."

"Touche." Indy and Mutt glared at one another, the conversation had started with something like intimacy and had circled around to their old fight of _Don't be an idiot – Well you have no say since you abandoned me and my mom_.

The boys were so fixated on their glare that they didn't notice Marion leaning against the doorway, watching them. She thought it was funny, just two guys glaring at each other. She wondered what started it this time.

"Boys!" She clapped her hands and they turned to look at her, "Stop the hissy fitting and get packed. In an hour we're heading to Laurel's apartment to see what's been taken and get her things and then…who knows. Maybe we're crossing the Atlantic by dinnertime. So shoo! Get packing!"

Laurel, on the other side of the kitchen, watched Mutt and his father sulk away from the table like fighting children. She found it just as funny as Marion did. As Mutt brushed by her he squeezed her hand and she smiled…

Maybe she'd figure out who killed her parents, where Atlantis was _and_ what she was going to do with how she felt about Mutt Williams.

a/n

slight pause in updating…how do we feel about the new chapter?


	6. Chapter 6

Readers- glad we like the Indy/Mutt relationship… im basically banking on their sarcasism and macho man issues to create many fun scenarios for our enjoyment, most of it likely sex centered, as

Readers- glad we like the Indy/Mutt relationship… im basically banking on their sarcasism and macho man issues to create many fun scenarios for our enjoyment, most of it likely sex centered, as..well…its Indiana Jones. Sex is like eating, if he doesn't do it at least three times a day he feels incomplete.

The Jones Boys

Laurel was shaking. Her hands were clasped around Mutt's middle as he led his parents in their old pick up truck to Laurel's apartment. She snuggled her head against his back as though that would block out the images that kept flashes behind her eyes. Her apartment looked like the crime scene photos from her parents' deaths. Nothing could take away the comparison in her mind, no resolution she could ever receive, no answers anyone could give her. She was utterly alone in the world, and the people who had done that to her seemed bent on killing her like they killed her parents. She didn't even have a dog to guard her, didn't even have her pet to comfort her.

Mutt felt her shake and took one hand off his handlebars and put it over her trembling, clasped hands.

He remembered being alone, thinking his mom and the Ox were beyond his help, going to some stranger hoping for assistance and …

The moment he stepped into Ox's cell in the insane asylum at Peru would never go away. The feeling that he'd lost Ox, who had been there for him all his life. He'd lost his father when he was a child, he lost father substitute after father substitute as his mom went through boyfriends. The Ox was the only thing he'd had consistently, besides his mom, and to see the evidence of insanity was just…earth shattering. Then to see his mom with a gun to her head… the whole world went red, and he would've sooner killed someone or be killed himself than have to live through seeing his mom murdered in front of him.

He could well imagine what Laurel was working through at the moment, and he would've rather they could by-pass her apartment entirely but he knew there could be vital clues in there. Vital information that maybe only Indiana would know was vital.

No small part of Mutt hated Indy for turning Laurel away for weeks, for telling her there wasn't enough evidence. Maybe to Indy there wasn't, but to whoever was trying to kill Laurel there was certainly enough to go on.

Turning her head to look behind them, Laurel could see Dr. Jones and his wife. Dr. Jones looked nothing like the man she'd met at the university. He was outfitted in a worn leather jacket and a time-beaten fedora, there was a bullwhip tucked into his pants and he had a strange grin on his face she'd never seen before. It was easy to see where Mutt got a lot of his personality from when you saw this side of Jones.

Laurel felt guilty, what was she dragging this family into? Something about asking for Jones' help wasn't wrong…wasn't this what he was known for? But bringing Mutt and Marion into it was just… she knew she'd grimace at every single moment that they were in danger. And she had the distinct impression that there would be danger, she just didn't know how much.

Mutt slowed the bike and turned it sharply, stopping it beside her Ducati which was still lying on the ground. It had a couple scratches where it may have been poked or kicked by neighbors wondering about why it was there, but it looked like it would work. She still had the keys in her pocket. Reluctantly she released her grip on Mutt and walked over to her own bike. Picking it up, she flipped the kick stand down and ran her hands over it. She checked her gauges, she looked for possible sabotage.

Of course, someone had cut the engine wires…she wasn't particularly good at wiring. Walking up next to her Mutt looked over her shoulder.

"Woah, wiring!" He shook his head and kneeled to get a closer look, "I could fix that…might take a little while but I can do this."

She had to smile, the bike was among the least of her problems, but someone wanted to help her. To take care of the problem.

Or maybe, to take care of her. Either way, it was a welcome relief, "I'd insist on paying you for your skills."

Mutt looked at her, eyebrows quirked. He stood up and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I think they call that prostitution."

Her eyebrows shot up and she actually smiled. She was about to say something back when Marion and Indy walked up.

"So…in there?" Indy nodded at the obviously open door. Laurel nodded.

"I wonder why no one called the police." Marion looked around, it was a nice neighborhood, certainly not the kind of place where crime traditionally goes unreported.

"Sometimes you don't want to risk angering big men with big guns." Indy cracked his knuckles.

"Luckily, we don't have that problem…do we Jones?" Marion smiled.

"Never in my life….let's go." Indy walked toward the apartment and the rest lined up behind him, "So tell me again how you found this?"

"We had been out by the lake and were coming back to Laurel's place, when we got here it was ransacked." Mutt summarized.

"Why were you coming here?" Marion interrupted, a mother's suspicion apparent.

"Laurel needed to borrow a book." Mutt lied quickly, "One of my history books."

Marion gave him a look…Mutt had had a lot of study buddies that were girls growing up…and when no one's grades actually improved, Marion knew not much studying actually happened.

Indy cut in before Marion could really get going on her son.

"When had you been here last?"

"I'd never been here before."

Indy turned, "Not you, genius, her. The one who lives here."

Laurel looked up, "I'd been home only a couple hours before."

"Was your day different? Anything out of ordinary?"

She shrugged, "Usually I come home from the college before I go see Mutt, but that day I didn't."

Indy looked at the frame of the door, "They weren't waiting for you. This wasn't an ambush, or they wouldn't have made it so apparent. They just wanted whatever you have."

Marion looked around, "This place is a mess…it's going to take hours to find what they wanted."

Indy looked at her, "Where did you keep your father's journal?"

Laurel paled, "In my bedroom…hidden."

Indy started walking there but Mutt and Laurel didn't move and Indy turned, "Come on."

Laurel blushed, "My…my dog's in there. I….maybe someone can, cover him? Or something…I don't want to see him so messed up again."

Indy nodded sympathetically. He'd had a dog hit by a car once and he couldn't bear to look at the body. It was a time of father-son bonding between he and Henry Senior when Senior put his Bible book aside and helped his son bury the dog. It had been particularly rough on Indy, because that dog had been the puppy of the famous golden retriever Indiana. Montana hadn't been as smart as his sire, and after that Indy hadn't wanted another dog. In fact, hadn't had one since.

He and Marion walked into the bedroom and Indy winced. There was the body of a huge Doberman, flies surrounding the two day old corpse were buzzing loud enough that Indy had to open a window and shoo them out. Marion whimpered, "Poor dog."

"His troubles are over…ours are just getting started….Honey, hand me that blanket?"

Together they wound the blanket around the huge dog and as they were preparing to lift it Mutt came in, "Ma, don't…let me do it. Go talk to Laurel, she's all spooked."

Indy and Mutt moved the dogs body outside, to the side of the apartment complex. Mutt went to the pick up truck and took the shovel they'd brought from home, and began to dig a grave. Indy had a strange rush of deja-vu thinking that Mutt was Indy from all those years ago. Not for the first time, Indy felt he'd become his own father.

"Are you sure you're alright, Junior?" Indy asked Mutt, thinking it had been the same question his father had asked him years ago.

"Yeah…I don't want Laurel to have to do this. I'll be in when I'm done." Indy started to walk away, "Hey Pops! Thanks…thanks for helping."

Indy smiled, "Anytime."

Inside Marion had distracted Laurel trying to find out what in the kitchen could be kept and what needed to be thrown. Laurel hadn't even seen Indy and Mutt take the body out, which was good because she was shaken up enough without reliving that horror.

"I guess that we'll need some traveling supplies…what do you bring?" Laurel asked.

"Anything non-perishable that doesn't taste bad when its squashed…things tend to get squashed around Indy. Squashed, damp, muddy….you get the idea."

Laurel nodded, "I guess…this is all new to me….Do Trix work?"

Marion smiled, "Trix work, even if they get crushed its like multi-colored sugar powder. Mutt will love it."

They rooted around for a while, "Ooh! Beef jerky!"

"Beef jerky?" Indy chimed in and Marion looked at him, "For later, Jones… are you ready in the bedroom?"

"Yeah, Mutt's outside taking care of things." Marion and Laurel nodded, understanding.

"I'll keep looking for food, you two look for the journal."

Laurel walked over to Jones, "Let's do it."

Marion perked up jokingly, "Hey now, no one says that to my husband in a bedroom but me."

Laurel laughed out loud, "No worries Mrs. Jones."

There was still blood where Judgment had been laying and Laurel could smell the rot, hear the flies…she felt a pang of guilt for not burying her dog yesterday. Nonetheless she walked over to that side of the room and kneeled between the dog's bed and her own. She knocked on floor panels until she found a hollow one and used her pocket knife to get it up.

"Here… I didn't want to leave it out in the open. His books are still back home but I take the journal with me."

Indy nodded, "Tuck it inside your jacket and keep it close."

"Always."

"Pack some clothes, plan for different kinds of weather, and keep it as light as you can."

Outside, Mutt had finished digging down and rolled the Judge into the grave. Piling dirt on top wasn't as hard as digging down, and he was done sooner then he thought. He went inside and saw his dad on the phone, his mom sifting through dry and canned goods, and assumed Laurel was still in the bedroom. Walking down the hallway he saw her packing and leaned against the door, watching her stare between what seemed like two identical shirts.

"They are not identical." She turned around, "I know what you're thinking and they're not."

He smiled, "If you insist."

She walked over to him and wiped some dirt off of his cheek and looked at him, "You…you buried him?"

"Yeah, its done."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around Mutt's neck, slumping down a little, as though she felt a great weight removed, "Thank you."

Mutt had never heard those words so sincerely. He hugged her back and kissed her temple. He didn't need to say 'you're welcome' … she knew.

"A-_hem_!"

They jumped apart like guilty children and looked straight into Marion's eyes, which were frantically looking for both sets of hands and checking to make sure nothing else had happened.

"There's a cargo plane leaving for England in forty-five minutes, from a hanger that's about an hour away. We have to leave _now_." Indy said, threw Mutt a pack that rattled with food, "Everyone's packed, we have food, we have the journal and I just rolled Laurel's bike onto the truck…you two get on Mutt's bike and we're going to break a couple speed limits, how's it sound?"

"You know, a little felony for family bonding." Marion smiled.

Mutt just smiled, he did love an adventure. Beside him even Laurel smiled…with this family, it was hard not to feel the excitement.

a/n- yet another pause in updating. How do we like??


	7. Chapter 7

The Jones Boys

The Jones Boys

a/n- I have to say that this story's title was inspired by The Last Crusade when they say "Germany's declared war on The Jones Boys", I don't know why but I felt it was terribly funny. That note aside, I'm deciding on Nazis or KGB or maybe I'll have a new kind of enemy. Any constructive imput on who the bad guys should be? Time-wise, we're running out of bad guys in terms of KGB and Nazis…

* * *

The Jones Boys

"Son of a bitch!" Mutt cried as the cargo plane jostled him again and he hit his head against the underside of Laurel's bike. He hadn't had much Ducati experience, probably only seen two in his life and not this model, but he was figuring it out pretty quickly.

"You alright, sweetie?" Marion called from a few feet away, where she sat on his bike instead of on the neighboring crates.

"Yeah, if you think concussions are alright." He sat up, "I'm getting the hang on this engine but the plane's killing me."

"Do you ever sleep?" Indy looked at his son.

"Do you ever stop asking?" Mutt looked back at him, the expressions mirrored.

"Boys!" Marion growled, she wasn't in the mood for them to start arguing, they were three hours into their flight.

Mutt sat next to Laurel's bike and rubbed his sore head. He peeked over at Laurel who was sound asleep on the boxes with Mutt's leather jacket under her head for a pillow. She had slept through the quick snit between he and his father; thus contented, Mutt laid back down and continued to try and re-wire the foreign engine.

--

Marion saw Mutt check on Laurel, saw the care he was taking with her bike. She had noted how Mutt had waited until Laurel had dozed off, rolled his jacket, and stuck it under her head. She was aware that he kept his voice to a whisper… her son was being considerate. Mutt Williams was not exactly considerate most of the time. He'd always been good to Marion, she'd give him that. In fact, she was willing to bet that Mutt's great love for her was the reason that he treated girls as well as he did… but it was always jarring to see her rough-talking, hard drinking, prep-school expelled little hellraiser being a gentleman. She looked over to Indy, studying a map and going through Martin Weston's journals. Marion got off Mutt's Harley and went to sit beside her husband.

"Any luck?"

Jones looked up, "Nothing new, nothing I didn't see before. I don't think Martin was dumb enough to keep everything in one place, it would make stealing it too easy. A long time ago he used to hire grave-robbers to get ancient texts and objects for his museums…and he used to keep all of the best possessions all together. Then the grave-robbers struck and took a whole bunch of loot. I remember calling him to express my regrets and to tell him I told him so, you trust thieves and forget they're thieves and they'll take from you with one hand as they except your gratitude with the other. But, I think Martin learned from that…his information will be scattered. What's in the journal isn't more than the surface, this is just the pretty pictures."

Marion laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her, "I'm sorry there's nothing there Indy."

"Are you mad we're traveling?" Indy asked, as though it was bothering him, "You've been on me for the last year to not travel, and here we are."

Marion shook her head, "No I'm not mad…she needs help, and in particular, she needs your help. Who else is going to find Atlantis beside Indiana Jones?"

He smiled at her…Marion made him feel like a young, cocky explorer all over again. He kissed her cheek and noted it was cold. Without a second thought he picked up his old leather jacket and slung it over her shoulders. Marion smiled…_I guess that's where Mutt gets it from_.

--

She didn't even know she was tired, but she had fallen asleep rather quickly on the plane. Cars and planes had always lulled her to sleep as a child, maybe it was still true. Laurel stretched her body opened her eyes. A few feet away Mutt was tinkering on her bike. Dr. Jones had her father's journal in one hand and his other arm around his wife. They both seemed to be snoozing. Laurel looked at her watch and knew there was about an hour left in the flight, maybe they had been awake in the beginning and were sleeping now as the flight ended.

"Did you get any sleep?" She asked Mutt, who jumped, startled by her voice in the silence.

"I don't sleep on trips." He wiped his hands on an old dirty shirt and came to sit beside Laurel, "What about you, have a nice snooze?"

"Yeah, like a baby…engines can put me to sleep pretty easy. When I was little my dad would take me for midnight drives when I had trouble sleeping…works every time."

Mutt smiled, "They never put me to sleep, but the sound calms me down. Nah, the Ox used to put me to sleep just by talking. He's got a real soothing voice."

"The Ox?"

"He's a real old friend of my family, he helped my mom raise me. He's the one that got lost in Peru and we had to go find him… he's this really neat old British guy who just gets on the most boring rants you've ever heard. I love the guy, but who needed bedtime stories when you had Ox's lecture for his grad class?"

Laurel laughed, "You let that guy just talk you to sleep? Didn't you worry he'd take offense?"

"Nah, people do it to Ox all the time. He's used to it." Mutt grinned widely, "Besides, I was a cute kid, I got away with a lot."

"I bet." Laurel rolled her eyes, "With a British step-father and a British father figure, how'd you wind up in America and not England?"

Mutt shrugged, "I guess that was Mom's call…I don't think my step-dad's family ever liked her very much…she's a bit too…wild for them. In retrospect they probably didn't like that she had a kid already and no father to go with the kid. Like, didn't want their son to clean up my dad's mess, but Colin was always really cool with us. Never ever treated me like anything less than his boy, so that's good. But after the war, mom just wanted to come home I guess."

Laurel nodded and Mutt playfully nudged her, "What about you? How do you live in England and not have an English accent? How did you wind up in American schools?"

"Ah, well…my mother was American. She was actually a vaudeville dancer and small time song and dance performer. My dad saw a show, asked to buy her dinner and that's the beginning. When he proposes he lets her in on the fact that he's rich and she has to meet the family. Warns her they may not like her and they don't. My grandparents were beyond angry and the American trash dad brought home but they tied the knot anyway. Tried to basically take me away from my parents when I was born so I didn't wind up like my mom, uneducated and working class… so mom promised she'd send me to the best possible schools…and sent me to America. I've been in boarding schools since I was six years old… when I was thirteen I switched back to England and managed to get kicked out of prep school when some of the kids started making fun of my mom and I…um, well physically persuaded them it wasn't the most polite thing. They kicked me out for unladylike conduct and I went to public school. My parents disappeared just before graduation and the day of I found out they were dead… they gave me the diploma but I refused to walk in procession, declined to enter college in the fall and just sort of… worked my way here."

"That's rough…what happens with your grandparents now? Still a drag?"

"Well my mom's folks are great. They're in Florida all pokey and old and cute. Dad's dad is dead but his mom's still going…she might outlive us all. After the bombs fall it's going to be her and the cockroaches and I'm not sure they're going to like her." Laurel shrugged, "If you're lucky you'll meet her. She stops by a lot. I'm the soul inheritor and she hasn't cut me out…that I know of. She's not supposed to anyway. But she tries to re-mold me into something acceptable."

Mutt eyed Indy, "I know that feeling."

He reached over and took Laurel's hand in his, "I don't think you need to be re-molded, if that helps."

She smiled, "It does."

Then she kissed him.

--

Indy's eyes were closed, but his ears weren't. He distantly remembered being twenty-two and possessed just the right gift of gab with girls. Apparently, Mutt inherited that. From what Indy could tell, Mutt was playing every card perfectly. Maybe he was being cynical…maybe Mutt meant it but Indy didn't know how someone so young could be telling the truth. Marion nestled against him and Indy thought about her…so very young when they met, saying such serious things that he couldn't honestly believe they were that young and that involved. He had left, thinking she had been too young to be that hung up on him and had tried to ignore that he was so caught up in her…and where were they now? Twenty years later Marion felt the same for him that she felt when she was sixteen, twenty one, thirty five or forty three.

Maybe Mutt inherited that too.

Indy tried to block out the talk and get some sleep…they'd be landing soon.

--

Marion's eyes fluttered open and she checked her watch…it was probably five minutes to landing, which was nice. Her back was starting to cramp up from sleeping on cargo boxes and Indy's shoulder. As she stretched out her arms started looking around the cargo pit. Not much in there besides boxes, motorcycles and her family.

She knew Indy was still leaning against the vibrating wall of the hold; a glance at him told her he was still asleep. Looking towards the motorcycles she couldn't find Mutt working on them…straining her ears she could hear him tinkering with the engines. Craning her neck she looked and looked and…_there_!

His head was leaned back on his leather jacket and he was…sleeping. Mutt didn't sleep, as a general rule. Until it was Sunday morning and Marion wanted him to clean the garage, then he slept until 3pm. Why was he sleeping? Then she saw it, Laurel was cuddled into his shoulder with her eyes fluttering. Her hair was a little mussed, as though there had been something going on that Marion was probably happy to have been sleeping through. Suddenly, Laurel's fingers moved to brush some stray hair off of Mutt's face…the girl wasn't asleep. Laurel looked up at Mutt's face and smiled, nuzzled back into his shoulder and threw an arm around his waist.

Marion was still deciding on how she felt about this when the plane jostled violently…another rough landing in the company of Indiana Jones.

Indy and Mutt popped awake at the jostle, both tightened their grip on their girls and both relaxed when they realized it was just the plane landing. Marion had to shake her head, sometimes she found herself wondering how people didn't realize that was Indy's son for all those years. They were obviously twins born in different times to different mothers.

Mutt looked down and saw Laurel, smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her. The plane jostled again and threw off his aim and he wound up kissing her cheek. Marion smiled and looked up, _Who said God doesn't have a sense of humor?_

When it looked like Mutt was going to try to kiss her again, Marion stood up and clapped her hands loudly, startling the pair, "Whose ready for an adventure?"

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A/n-

I am supposed to be writing a grad paper, and find myself taking "5 minute breaks" that last half an hour, most of it playing with this chapter. I feel the need to end it here and post it before it consumes more of my afternoon and delays the paper even further.

How do we feel?


	8. Chapter 8

Recall that I promised you gaps in updating

The Jones Boys

Mutt could tell she was nervous when they were unloading their bikes onto the airstrip. He wanted to say something or do something but he couldn't figure out what. Just as he was reaching over to rub her arm his mother walked right between them, stretching her arms above her head.

"That wasn't the most comfortable flight but at least it was smooth!"

"At least something's smooth." Indy retorted under his breath. Mutt grinned and met his father's eyes… at least Mutt wasn't inventing Marion's eccentric behavior, Indy noticed too.

"Well!" Marion patted Laurel roughly on the back, nearly knocking her over, "Shall we get going?"

"I suppose…" Laurel blushed, "Can we take the bikes? Or is there too much luggage."

There, in her voice…he could almost identify it. Mutt could tell she was nervous, and for some reason it was about the bikes. Didn't she think he fixed her bike properly? He was a mechanic after all, he could rewire a bike.

"Nah, the bikes can handle it…they can handle getting Indiana pulled on and off the back of them, they can handle a few backpacks."

Laurel and Marion both cocked their heads.

"Do I want to know the context of that story?" Laurel couldn't help but grin, and that was what Mutt had been going for.

"Peru. Well, before Peru…before we drove through the library…after the brawl in the soda shop…" Mutt counted off the events on his fingers.

Indy clapped him on the shoulder, sometimes the boy didn't know when to have a short, witty, perhaps sexually laden reply.

"It's a long story, kid. Sometime he'll tell you in detail."

Nodding, Laurel confidently turned the key in her ignition and gunned her motor, flashing a smile to the boy who fixed it.

He still couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, she didn't seem to be anxious about turning the bike on, but there was an obvious trepidation in her movements. How she helped his mom buckle down the backpacks, how she zipper her jacket… why was she dragging her feet?

Mutt walked his biked up beside hers, with the engines roaring even his parents couldn't eves drop. He leaned in so that his lips were just touching her ear.

"What's wrong?"

Behind him Marion was reaching to push them apart and Indy smacked her hand down. She glared at him, attempted to do it again only to be slapped down again. Indy shook a finger at her signaling that she had to let the kids be. He didn't know what was getting into her over this relationship, she was acting like Mutt had never had a girl before.

Laurel smiled and shook her head, "I'm scared for you to see my house."

Staring at her Mutt's jaw drop, "Doll, you live in a mansion, how bad can it be?"

Laughing Laurel shrugged her shoulders thinking _He's right_. Gunning her engine she took off and screamed loud enough for Indy to hear, "KEEP UP IF YOU CAN!"

When they pulled up Mutt's jaw really dropped, "SO... WHEN YOU SAID RICH, YOU MEANT RICH... LIKE CASTLE-RICH. YOU LIVE IN A CASTLE."

"TRY TO KEEP THE DROOL IN YOUR MOUTH, JUNIOR." Indy quipped.

In front of them, looming like a mountain, was Briar Weston Estate. It was stone, it had towers, there were rose bushes and ivy crawling up the sides, there were at least three floors and Mutt could identify at least two chimneys. In other words, castle. She lived in a castle.

For the first time Mutt was truly grasping that Laurel's kind of breeding was bigger than anything he'd seen before at any of the fancy prep schools he'd been expelled from. This was like….a castle.

Laurel nudged him and yelled over the roar of the bikes, " THE GARAGE IS IN THE BACK NEXT TO THE STABLE. BY THE LAKE. YOU CAN'T MISS IT!"

_Stable? Lake? Dammit. _Mutt followed Laurel closely, he was too busy taking it in he almost crashed right into her when she stopped in front of two huge barns. Laurel killed her engine.

"One for horses, one for horsepower." She giggled, "My dad's idea of a joke."

Indy shook his head, "Martin's sense of humor was never quite what everyone else's was."

Laurel shrugged again and then folded her hands in front of herself and stared at her shoes. She looked about five years old when she did the gesture and Mutt studied her… she was scared of this, of bringing people in. He assumed his obvious awe wasn't helping anything.

"Jesus! This place is huge, the grounds alone must go around a dozen miles." Marion was gazing at everything. The castle, its surrounding buildings, and all the grounds had been covered with a gentle English fog and everything looked just like a postcard.

"Fifty nine acres in all." Laurel mumbled.

Next to them some horses whinnied.

Indy was watching Mutt who gestured from his mother to the barn, clearly asking Indy to give him and Laurel some privacy.

"Hey Marion, lets take a walk to the stables, my knees are all stiff from the ride."

Marion shook her head, "Getting too old for this Jones."

"How many times do I have to tell you, sweetheart, its not the years --"

"It's the miles, I've heard it. Come on old man."

Not for the first time, Mutt appreciated that he and Indy understood each other.

A rag hit him in the face and Mutt was snapped out of his thoughts, Laurel laughed as he shook his head like a dog to get the rag off of him.

"It's to clean the bike, dumbo." She walked up next to him and picked his rag off the floor, handing it to him more nicely, "Although your face could use it too."

Mutt's face had a clear line between what his goggles had shielded and what they hadn't.

"Yours ain't much better, dollface." He ran his rag down the bridge of her nose, producing a brown stripe of dirt.

Laurel wiped her rag across Mutt's cheek but then rested her palm there. Mutt pulled her closer and kissed her. When it broke she leaned her head against his jacket, "Do you think I'm different now? Or weird?"

"No…it was a pretty standard kiss, I mean, like…a good kiss, but not weird really." The retort earned him a slap on the arm.

"I mean…the house. Castle."

"Well, its definitely a castle. There's stone towers." Mutt smiled at her, "And no, you're not different. You have a really big house, but your still Laurel."

He rubbed her back and she sighed.

"Sometimes you're perfect. Sometimes you're an idiot and an ass and you drive me nuts, but sometimes you're perfect."

Mutt grinned, leaned in and kissed her. He figured kissing her was better than saying "right back at you." Apparently, he was right. So much for being an idiot sometimes.

Behind them a shadow approached, and began to loom larger and larger. The silhouette was menacing against the back wall of the garage, but the couple didn't notice it. Someone cleared their throat and Laurel jumped away from Mutt with a yelp.

"Grandmother!"

"Laurel, how thoughtful of you to not call and tell everyone you were returning home. And bringing guests… who is this filthy creature anyway?"

Mutt gulped. He guessed it was only fair for him to meet Laurel's family.

Something inside told him this wouldn't be nearly as easy as introducing Laurel to his folks.

To be continued….

A/N

Howdy folks.

So I'm back in school and its busy. Full schedule and two jobs, so postings will definitely be more spread apart and shorter, but this does mean less fluff and more to the point action, which it what Indy stories should really be.

How do we like it so far?

Remember: best to put me on alert instead of checking yourself for updates. Sorry it has to be that way, but it is.


	9. Chapter 9

The Jones Boys

Chapter 9- The Never Ending Lecture

"—insufferably rude, no question where you get it though, is it?"Grandmother Weston humphed for the thousandth time since she had begun to lead Laurel and her companions back to the main house, "Always said this would happen. Turn up out of the blue, disheveled, cavorting with some _mechanic_ who probably can't process thoughts as fast as he can drive a car. Some American trash boy that looks like something the god-forsaken cat dragged i—Boy, BOY! What's your name again?"

"Mutt."He lifted his chin, why give her a name that sounded like it had a pedigree when he could just as easily make her more upset? Laurel could see the thought process and she smirked, playfully smacking his arm.

"Mutt, of course. Absolutely fitting at least."

"Now you wait a minute you old bag, that's my son you're talking ab—"Marion tried to cut in but Grandmother Weston turned on her and looked her over from head to toe, something about the look in her eyes made even Marion stop dead in her tracks.

"He would be your son, wouldn't he? You look like something the cat dragged in too."

Marion lifted her chin, and Laurel saw where Mutt got the habit from, "Listen you, I'm Marion Ravenwood, and the Ravenwood's know a thing or two about old money in England so don't bad mouth my kid anymore."

The old woman actually laughed, some horrible cackle that might have come from a jackal as easily as a person, "You're Ravenwood? Dear girl, you would've had to _try_ to mess up that kind of breeding."

She glanced at Indiana, "And so I see, you tried. Probably several times."

Indy walked right up to the old woman and stuck a finger in his face, "Listen Attila, I don't care if she's a Ravenwood, you're a Weston or if he's a goddamn Canadian goose, you better start canning it!"

"Ha!"The old woman slapped Indy's finger, "Let me guess, you're Robinson Caruso?"

"Indiana Jones, Grandmother."Laurel finally spoke up, "At least he goes by it, he's really Dr. Henry Jones Junior. And this is Henry Jones the Third. And that's…well Marion Ravenwood. Like she said."

"Marion Ravenwood Williams Jones, to be entirely accurate."Marion added in, just to watch the old woman roll her eyes.

"Two marriages? Did you at least have the good taste to get widowed?"

"Oh yes, but the best part is I already had a baby that he pretended was his before that."

Grandmother Weston moved away from Marion as though she was contagious, "Dear God, Laurel you're not pregnant, are you?"

"NO!"Rang out from Laurel, Mutt and Indy with Marion adding, exaggeratedly, "Oh hell no!"

"Just checking dear. Given the company….you, boy, hands! Where I can see them!"

Mutt's hands shot into the air after he had been reaching for one of Laurel's. He vaguely remembered that the last time he'd been in this position a KGB agent had a gun pointed at him. Just to be on the safe side, he tried to see if Granny Weston seemed to be packing anything besides an eternal bad temper. After all, you couldn't be too careful in the Jones family. People seemed to enjoy shooting at them. The group finally started walking again and Mutt slowly let his hands drop back to his sides. Marion walked up, seemingly lovingly, besides her son and slung an arm around his neck, drew him close, and whispered, "Honey, keep those hands where I can see them too. She's got nothing on me."

"That ones arguable, ma, I think she's scarier than you by like…a hair. A hair. Just a smidge."Mutt combed his hair and let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. A brusque clap on the back from Indy caught Mutt so unaware that he almost fell flat on his face, "Jeez old man! Careful! The warranty wore out on me, if you break me you're stuck with me."

"Warranty? Hell, sometimes I still look for the receipt!"Indy squeezed the back of Mutt's neck, "Your girlfriend's grannie may have to meet with a terrible, tragic accident."

Looking around as if checking they couldn't be overheard, Mutt leaned in, "You can do that?"

"No,"Mutt's face fell a little, "But I won't stop it from happening."

"Which is almost just as good."Mutt shrugged, "She is kind of a tough old bird, ain't she?"

"I can hear you, you rag-tag, classless brand of hooligan! Don't think I can't understand what's going on around me. I'm as sharp as a tack, which is a great deal more sharp then any of you- Laurel!"

"Yes, mám?"Laurel sped up so she was next to her grandmother, "You're guests are living up to my expectations. The backdoor is open, I'm sure you remember your way around the house. I'm parting now, my daisies need me and the help are all thumbs with daises. You all," She turned to face the Jones family, "I am Gwendolyn Weston and you will answer to me if anything gets damaged or dirty or if it goes mysteriously missing. I think one meal is polite, and two is pushing courtesy. After breakfast tomorrow, you'll find me growing terse with you. Don't push me. Shoo now, go."

Grandmother Weston veered off in another direction abruptly and Laurel turned, "I apologize for… yeah. Well, backdoor!"

A few minutes later they were entering through the back into what looked like the kitchens, except the last time Indy had seen a set up like this the kitchen was in a restaurant. It was huge, everything was new, and it was…impressive. His stomach rumbled and he remembered that he was hungry, but he knew that could wait til dinner. Laurel tucked her chin to her chest and walked fast, leading them into a grand main hall. There were painting of the Weston's going back hundreds of years, and a grand staircase leading up to various rooms. Indy looked at Laurel again, she seemed so uncomfortable, as if she knew who she was but she didn't really feel at home here. Like she was a Weston, but she wasn't. Maybe she wasn't, he didn't know much about her past. She seemed level headed, like maybe she went to a school where she was the exalted, god-like Laurel Weston but rather, just Laurel Weston. Between Billy Weathers and Morna Wiggins.

"Guest rooms are upstairs, there's enough to choose what you want. Just go claim a space. My dad's library is in the left wing, third door from the right. The bathrooms are both two doors in from the left, and my room is in the right wing, last door on the left. Kitchens are back there, dining room is over there" Laurel waved her left hand toward some dark hallway, "and that should do it. I guess go drop off your bags and we'll meet in the library before dinner? Maybe people would like a nap, or a shower or…yeah. Well, that's it."

She seemed so nervous that even Marion felt badly for her, Mutt looked behind him to check for the Granny of Doom and then laced his fingers through Laurel's. Indy guided Marion upstairs, luring her to the left wing and reminding her how badly she had wanted a bath after the motorcycle ride. Mutt and Laurel walked up to the right hall and Mutt chose the room directly across from Laurel's, silently thanking his father for affording him the choice while Marion was occupied with her bath. While father and son may not always get along, there was a silent sort of bond that they had perfected. Indy respected certain aspects of Mutt's acting out, and if he could aid the boy in it he would. Other aspects, Indy would shut him down so fast that Mutt barely realized it was happening, but that was probably the trade off with any parent-child relationship. In any relationship, you win some, you lose some. Some you never quite decide if you won them or lost them.

While Marion was in the bath, and Indy was immersing himself in Martin Weston's library, Mutt and Laurel laid in bed and took a nap. It was simple, nothing happened that they wouldn't have let happen directly in front of Marion. But they enjoyed it, it calmed them both after arriving at a castle and getting verbally mauled by the Beast. When Marion came to wake them, even she appreciated how serene they were. She used to sneak in when Mutt was younger and watch him sleep, he had the same peaceful expression now. He was snuggled up against Laurel's back with his face laying cheek to cheek with hers. Laurel's arms were both wrapped over the arm Mutt had laid over her waist, as if she was hugging a security blanket. They were both breathing deeply but softly. At first, Marion was enraged that Mutt's bag was in his bed, but Mutt wasn't. Now she almost wished she could leave them be. She knew she'd have to wake them for dinner, and she expected that they would want to change into less dirty clothes before getting harassed by the Great and Powerful Gwendolyn Weston again.

So she woke them, but she felt bad. Even Mutt saw that his mother wasn't angry that he'd cuddled up next to Laurel for a couple of hours which was a pleasant surprise to him. Maybe his mom was warming up to the idea of him keeping Laurel around. Hopefully. He was really starting to hope Laurel wanted to be kept around, because he was getting entirely too used to the idea.

"Laurel! Laurel!"The tell-tale voice of Grandmother Gwendolyn came, "You better change out of those ghastly clothes. Tell those people to clean up too."

Laurel yawned and stretched, "I can get you some of my dad's old clothes. They probably won't fit you or Indy particularly well but its better than going down there in front of her wearing a white tee-shirt and jeans. Your mom will probably fit my mom's old stuff, they look similar enough."

She was going to get up but Mutt pulled her down onto the bed and kissed her, long and proper. When he let her up she was smiling, which was exactly what he wanted, "Don't let the old hag get to you. I mean it."

She sat up and kissed him. Long and proper. When she pulled back he was grinning ear to ear, "Remember that advice of yours when you're trying to eat with her."

When Laurel hopped out of bed and down to the other hall, where her parents' old room was, Mutt laid back and thought of all the things he wished he could do to her. He hoped that no one in that house had any hidden mind-reading powers. Because he was going to get through the dinner by hoping that any lingering fantasies about Laurel might actually come to fruition after dinner. It was the perfect opportunity, after all…

Hopefully dinner with the beast didn't wear him down too much.

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To be continued

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A/N So, happy holidays and happy new year! Yet another fanfiction of mine crosses from one year to another unfinished lol

Are we liking it?

Remember, I don't update as frequently as I'd like so just put me on alert if you like this.

After a near disasterous harddrive crash just last week I was almost going to put the fanfics on hold for a while until everything was back in order, but Mutt was calling my name. I know this is short, but I hope everyone likes it 


	10. Chapter 10

The Jones Boys

After his mother had retreated to her own room, Mutt kissed Laurel quickly and gave her a wink, "Look at it this way, doll… at least my mom's gonna stop focusing on being a human shield between us and start focusing on how to best annoy your grandmother. And believe me, Marion can annoy with the best of them, she's got nagging down to an art, and your grandma better have her game face on."

"Mutt, I think Grandmother only has one face, and it is her game face."Laurel shrugged, "It'll make for an interesting dinner conversation."

"Assuming conversation occurs… My mom might just challenge dear ol'grannie to a whiskey run off and then we're all in trouble."

"A whiskey run-off?"Laurel rolled her eyes, thinking it was a joke, "Yeah, that'll happen."

"My mom would win…. She used to own a bar in some shady country I don't remember. She used to challenge the patrons to run-offs. Whoever lost had to buy the whole night. My mom's best night was 31 shots."

The statement had the desired effect and Laurel snorted in laughter, "Does she still have a liver?"

"You think something as trivial as a liver is gonna slow my mom down?"Mutt laughed and gave Laurel a quick kiss, "We'd better change for dinner… you think I could go topless?"

"Don't make me watch her kill you… I like you, it would be tough for me to bury the body and hide the evidence, it would create a rift between me and my grandmother that I would be forced to blame her for until I died."Laurel smiled, "There's actually probably some clothes in the closet of your room. Why don't you check it out. I warn you, you'll have to make-do with the fit, my dad was the only man who kept clothes here…"

Mutt hadn't seen any pictures of Laurel's father, but the way she trailed off at the end of the sentence made him feel like he'd be less than amused by the clothing selection available to him. When he opened the closet he saw clothes he didn't think he would've properly fit into even when he was six inches shorter and twenty pounds lighter. When he tried on the shirt it fit him like an over-starched second skin. The buttons closed…but it was a fight. The pants felt painted on, he felt exposed. And as far as exposure went, his ankles were going to freeze thanks to the hem that brought the pants up to damn near his calf. At least he had motorcycle boots as his only available footwear, or he'd really be in a sorry state. He carefully combed his hair, he felt it was his only saving grace.

A knock came to his door and Marion opened it, and choked on a laugh.

"Ha!"She covered her mouth, "Sorry, sweetheart… well, take solace in the fact that Indy looks worse then you."

Mutt's eyes lit up, he'd forgotten Indy would be subjected to the same clothes. When Mutt walked into the hallway, his father was there with pants that only reached to just past his knee, and a shirt that had already popped one button. Indy had his own hiking boots on, but you could still see the exposed skin between the pants and the shoes. Apparently, Laurel's father hadn't been remotely the same size as the Jones boys, and now they had to deal with how awkward that was going to make dinner.

Marion had better luck, apparently Laurel's mother was the same height if not the same girth as Mutt's mother; the dress was the appropriate length, but was so tight that her bosoms were all but spilling out of the top. Mutt tried not to notice, but Indy could hardly keep his eyes to himself. When Laurel walked out of her room into the family scene in the hallway, she had to support herself against the doorframe to control her laughter.

"Yeah yeah yeah, princess. It's hysterical that the clothes don't fit."Mutt combed his hair again, patting it gently to assure that the style hadn't changed in the last ten minutes.

"It is, actually… I'm sorry….no…no I'm not…."Her eyes were tearing, "Whew! Oh god…My grandmother is not going to be amused."

"That'll make two of us."Indy scowled.

Marion gave Indy a sharp pat on the arm and held out her arm, "Escort me to dinner, before the seams burst."

There were snippets of Marion egging on Indy that made Mutt and Laurel both laugh, "What Jones, did you put a few pounds in the last couple years?"

"Like you didn't?"

"At least my weight went primarily to my boobs, don't tell me you think that's a bad thing. I'd know you were lying."

"What about your secret lust for a man with a spare tire, Marion?"

"Jones, the only time I like a man with a spare tire is when I have a flat tire."

Mutt finally broke up the playful harassment, "Whatever happened to not demeaning each other in front of me? I'm a young, emotionally impressionable kid. Fragile. You two fight and I may never be secure enough to leave the nest."

"Yeah, girls love a big, strong man who still has his mom doing his laundry and cleaning his room for him. I'm sure you beat them off with a stick."Laurel quipped and Indy and Marion stopped, turned to look at her, and broke out into big smiles.

"Oh you found a good one."Indy nodded.

"He found one better than good. He found one who should be the best if not for her infernal desire to degrade herself into the worst."

Everyone knew whose voice that was.

"Oh Lord!"She exclaimed, "You didn't even bring suitable dinner clothes with you, you had to borrow them? Well it serves you right that you look so ridiculous then. One should always be prepared for any eventuality."

"We were more concerned with the eventuality of being shot, Grandmother."Laurel defended her friends.

"It would almost be better to be shot than seen dressed like that." Grandmother Weston raised her noise and turned to walk into the dining room.

"I actually agree."Indy said, "Being shot, its really blown out of proportion. Its not so bad."

"Worse than a scorpion bite?"Mutt asked.

"Worse than your scorpion bite, but you really didn't have a bad scorpion bite."

"Scorpion bite?!"Marion and Laurel chimed in together, giving both of them wild looks. Marion gave Indy and Mutt each a death stare, "What scorpion bite?"

"Just a little tiny scorpion bite."Mutt tried to shrug off his mother, but Marion had been around her fair share of scorpions and her eyes grew wide, "You were bit by a little scorpion?! Indy! Why didn't you tell me this? Was this in Peru? Indy! He could have died!"

"Marion calm down!"Indy put up his hands as though surrendering, "What your ever-eloquent son meant to say is that a big big scorpion gave him a tiny bite….in Peru. While we were raiding a grave looking for Franci-"

"Grave Robbing?"Grandmother Weston perked up, "Good gracious, Laurel, actual thieves? I didn't realize you sunk so low."

"I'm not technically a grave robber. I'm a tenured professor of archaeology who spends a lot of time in the field and –"

"Robs graves." Grandmother snipped at him, "There's no two ways of saying it."

"Sometimes if you don't get permission its called grave robbing, but robbers sell things. I give them to museums."

"Who in turn pay you."

Indy sucked in a deep breath and tried to tell himself it was useless to argue, she had already heard what she wanted to hear and he wasn't going to change it by elaborating, but he couldn't resist trying, "No. I don't get paid for it."

"Then you spend a lot of money traipsing around the world, raiding graves and giving all the proceeds to charity? How stupid. How on earth do you support yourself or your family?"

Dinner was set before them. It began with a warm soup that tasted so good, Mutt felt he was obliged to finish it. He could tell his father was making the same compromise, really good food for abuse. Who knew when they would get a really solid meal after the adventure got underway?

"I am a tenured professor." Indy grit his teeth and Marion rubbed his arm, seemingly casually throwing in, "And I run a small bar."

Grandmother held her hand over her face, "She works. Of course she works. And so does the boy, I suspect."

"Yes mám, one of the best mechanics in the county."

As though she felt physically pained by the revelation, Grandmother Weston took a deep breath as though she was centering herself, "And you aspire to this, Laurel?"

"Yes mám, I'd like to find a nice job. Maybe I'd take some of my money and open a business. I like motorcycles, I was thinking of repairing and selling them."

"I would sooner burn the money than have you get your fingernails dirty doing manual labor or management, what would your grandfather say? Its inappropriate for a woman… did all the generations of Weston's who earned this fortune really do all that work for you to open some petty shop? You should've married Edward Dillanger when you were seventeen. You'd already be a mother by now, and all this silly school-talk and these bad influenences would be behind you."

Mutt looked at Laurel, "Who's Edward Dillanger?"

"A skeez from two towns over."She rolled her eyes.

"He's a charming boy with a good pedigree about three years older than Laurel who proposed when she was seventeen."

"After one date that you made me go on!" Laurel shrieked, "I've known Mutt longer, and I haven't even---"

"STOP right there!"Grandmother Weston rubbed her forehead as if warding off a headache, "I'd rather not know what illicit things you haven't done yet."

Laurel blushed a deep red and Mutt fumed, "Hey, don't get down on her like that. She's a good girl, she ain't done anything to make anyone ashamed of her."

"Really?"Grandmother Weston seemed entirely unmoved by his defense of Laurel.

Soup was taken away and Mutt was going to walk away from the table, but the roast beef that was placed before him smelled so good that his mouth watered before he could stop it. His stomach rumbled, reminding him how hungry he was… damn. Betrayed by his own physical needs. Stupid body.

Mutt and Indy dug into their food like wild animals, hoping that the bad manners an effective passive aggressive way of flipping off Granny Weston. It seemed to be working, she looked at them with the same disgust usually reserved for animals that lived happily in their own filth and ate garbage. Marion could see that Grandmother Weston was also ill at ease with the cleavage exposed by the dress and propped her arms up to make it seem even bigger. Laurel couldn't bring herself to even irk her grandmother, she picked absently at her food and sighed. Mutt thought she was sad, but then he saw a small smile forming on her lips. Mutt nudged her, he was unwilling to vocalize because he knew Grandmother Weston would hear and inevitably comment. He tried to make it obvious on his face that he was concerned, curious, about what was going on in her head.

She smiled outright, and whispered, "Dinner hasn't been this vibrant since before mom and dad died. It's refreshing."

Under the table Mutt grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back.

For a moment, there was peace in the room.

Then…

"Boy, BOY! Hands!"

Mutt slammed his hands both flat on the table and sighed. Laurel giggled and squeezed Mutt's knee.

"Hey, girl! Hands!"Marion snapped and Laurel placed her hands on the table, fingers splayed, just like Mutt's. Indy let out a dark chuckle, and squeezed Marion's knee, "Easy, you."

"Hands, Dr. Jones!" Grandmother Weston snarled.

"You've got to be kidding me."Indy rolled his eyes and slowly put his hands on the table.

"Yeah, Daddio, hands."Mutt shook his head, "And you wonder where I get it from."

"Trust me, Mutt, no one wonders where you got it from." Marion smiled fondly, her eyes trained on Laurel's hands. After all, she had NO idea where Laurel got it from, so it was best to just keep an eye out.

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A/N- so I bought Indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull…. So there will be updates. I already have a refined version of a similar story to this in my head. How does this sound: Mutt's high school sweetheart has access to something that the KGB want to use to blackmail the Catholic Church into funding their army with: The Gospel of Judas; the original Gospel of Judas. But can Lauren Sorenson forgive him for leaving her not all that long ago?

I dunno… Let's finish this one first, eh?

Its my birthday in exactly ten minutes, on the 7th… so yay! 21… and I'm celebrating by writing : o )


	11. Chapter 11

The Jones Boys- chapter 11

Dessert was fruit and coffee. Depite how rude it was Laurel and the Jones family gathered up whatever they could fit in their arms and made a run upstairs.

"Get changed, library in fifteen minutes!" Indy called out as he threw a grape into the air and caught it in his mouth. Marion plucked two of his grapes, threw them and caught both in a silent challenge to Jones to out-do her. Mutt didn't have to follow them to know that this would all end in oranges being thrown and caught and someone losing an eye to a heavy citrus fruit. Shaking his head and laughing he walked to the other wing with Laurel. He hurdled into his own room and was into his own jeans in less then ten seconds. The door was still propped open behind him and he didn't see Laurel come in as he reached for a shirt.

"Mutt c-"

He jumped which made her laugh, "Scare easy?"

"The last time something snuck up behind me it had poisonous darts it was trying to hit me with."

Then he realized that he was half-naked and she was here. Marion and Indy were throwing fruit at one another, and this might be what is called Opportunity. Laurel turned around and asked, "Think you can help me with the zipper on this dress?"

Mutt looked heavenward and mouthed "Thank. You."

Cozying up close he pulled the zipper down slowly, enjoying seeing as he pulled it further down the revelation of skin and lacey underthings. When it was all the way down he wanted to say something witty or sexy but she whipped around, threw her arms around his neck and kicked the door close.

Indy had said fifteen minutes.... that could work....if they ran a little late. And it was Indy who said that after all, when was the last time he was EVER on time?

Mutt picked her up, quick as a flash, and all but threw her on the gigantic bed in his room. He yanked her dress down, pushed it passed her hips and reached for her bra. She giggled at him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

_Dammit, now is not the time for silly things like questions woman!_

Raising his eyebrow, "What?"

"I'm in my underwear, even up." She flicked her chin at his pants and Mutt laughed, "You honestly think I was gonna forget about these?"

Laurel watched with great pleasure as Mutt unhooked his belt, slid down his fly and pushed his pants down to the floor.

"I obviously had my concerns..." Laurel stopped talking when Mutt kissed her and she let her fingers play over his skin and she felt him shiver as she hit a sensitive spot on his side. A smile spread over her face as he trailed kisses down her neck.

"How are those concerns treating you?" Mutt joked.

"What concerns?"

Mutt was reaching for her bra clasp when the door swung open and Indy walked in, his nose stuck in Laurel's father's diary.

"What's taking you so--" Indy perked his head up when he heard two voices yell in fright, "Hmm....uh.....oh."

There was the longest moment of awkward silence Mutt ever experienced in his life.

"Scat dad!" He finally cried, trying to keep Laurel behind him so Indy couldn't see her body.

"Get dressed before your mother comes looking for you." Indy closed the door and stood outside of it. Laurel ran passed him into her own room and emerged a few minutes later in a shirt and pants. Without looking at Indy she sprinted to the library. When Mutt came out of his room he glared at Indy.

"Knock. What's with you and not knocking?" Mutt threw his hands up in the air, "god hates me."

"Its not God, your mother is hell bent on never knowing that you have sex. You're lucky that I volunteered to come check on you and Laurel and left her searching for a book that I've hidden under my jacket just to keep her busy. You should be thanking me!" Indy shook his finger at Mutt.

"Thanking you?" Mutt's voice was strained with disbelief and he threw his hands up, "Thanking you! I would've thanked you if you kept her busy and walked around the garden for an hour!"

"An hour?" Indy snorted, "I'll mock that statement later. For right now I have to agree with your mom...keep your head in the game. We have to figure out what's going on with this girl before someone tries to kill her or us and frankly, I need your focus here" Indy smacked Mutt's head, "and not on any other part of your anatomy. Or hers. Now man up and get to the library."

"Did your dad do this to you and now I have to deal with you taking out deep-seeded resentments on me?"

Indy laughed, "My father was in his seventies when he found out I had sex. He didn't ever stop me because I was too good to get caught. Blame your mother for the getting caught gene....only my inevitable genius at avoiding trouble saved us the summer we met. If it were up to your mom Abner would've had me drawn and quartered the first week we started dating."

Mutt crushed his hands against his ears, "AH! Just because I'm not a kid anymore does not mean I ever want to hear about you and sex. And my mother. Ever."

He put his hands in his pockets and Indy stuck his nose back in Martin's diary. Indy turned to walk back to the library when Mutt pinned him against the wall and motioned him for silence. Indy looked at him like he was nuts until Mutt pointed at two men coming up the stairs in suits carrying guns. The strange men turned to the left....walking toward the library where Marion and Laurel were hunting down a book Indy had hidden under his jacket.

"You know that genius ability of yours for avoiding trouble?" Mutt whispered and turned his head away from the gangsters to look at his father, "I think you need to use it now."

Indy stuck Martin's journal in his back pocket and took his gun out from its position tucked into his belt.

"I think you're right."

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Suspense! Next...can Marion smell the guilt on Laurel? LOL....so I got mono three days after I turned 21 and I've only begun to recover and get life on track. How does one celebrate? By avoiding homework and giving you guys a short update in the lives of Mutt and Laurel. I have a new laptop so if the formatting is different its probably the shift from Windows to Linnux which has me absolutely baffled.

REVIEW please!


	12. Chapter 12

The Jones Boys

Marion smelled a rat. There was something about the way Indy told her to look for the book…something was off.

"Look for Dodering's Eclipsed Moon and Ocean Tides; Martin had a copy here he showed me years ago, a first edition. Dodering was considered somewhat insane in his own time and thus nothing really survives by him but Martin liked his theories on the relocation of Atlantis because of a shift in tides." Indy waved his hand as though to sweep it all away, "Martin liked it, it may be of use."

Then he took off his jacket and kissed her head, "I'll look for Mutt and Laurel, they're probably just burning those awful clothes we had to wear."

Marion had been concerned and had only said, "Just don't let Mutt get a hold of any matches when he's in a destructive mood… I lost a nice couch that way."

Indy gave her a look and then shook his head, "No matches, got it. Remember honey look for Albert Dodering's Eclipsed Moon and Ocean Tides."

Something about how specific Indy was…why would he take off his coat? They were once thrown into a pit of snakes in the middle of the desert and he hadn't taken off his damn coat...

"Ah-ha!" Marion threw Indy's coat over her shoulder like she was a magician in a show, "Take that Jones!"

There, under Indy's jacket, sitting as docilely as if it was still on its shelf, was Albert Dodering's book. He had delayed her! He had tricked her!

"Why that dirty, rotten, enabling son of a ---"

"Mrs. Jones?" Laurel stuck her head into the library and immediately Marion stared at her, looking for the obvious signs of a make-out session interrupted. Her hair was a little mussed and she was blushing, other than that Marion couldn't tell if anything had happened that Indy had likely let go on longer then it should've. Indy…why did she trust him? Of course he was going to let the boy get away with –

"Mrs. Jones?"Laurel tried again and Marion huffed, "I just don't get men."

Surprised and aware that this conversation could go very wrong very fast, Laurel couldn't help but nod, "Amen…what happened?"

"Indy set me to looking for a book he had found and hidden because you and Mutt hadn't finished changing out of your dinner clothes yet… you know they fight like dogs sometimes and then they team up to thwart me. I just don't get it."Marion sighed, "Now, what's useful to us in this place?"

"Well what do you have so far?"Laurel was not going to touch the issue of why she and Mutt had taken so long with a ten foot pole.

"Dodering." Marion showed Laurel the book Indy had concealed, "Any good?"

"Not really…my dad disproved his theory about five years ago. Dodering wants us to believe that the remains of Atlantis are all the way in Africa but they are probably still in Ireland." Laurel climbed up one of the ladders to get a book on an upper shelf, "But Harding has some really good notes on barbarian culture in Ireland and studying the habits they seem to share. Based on water worship we can safely say that we're looking at an island on the Atlantic side… probably dead west."

Laurel found the book she was looking for and turned to hand it to Marion, but when she turned she froze and the book fell lifelessly from her hand.

"What'd you do that for?" Marion asked, the book had nearly hit her on the head.

Instead of speaking, Laurel pointed to the door. Two men in suits had guns pointed at them.

"Hello Miss. Weston. Mrs. Jones." The accent was English, and that disturbed Marion.

"Are you guys…Russian?" She asked.

"No, Mrs. Jones."

"German?"

"No."

"Do you work for the Nazi Party or the KGB?"She narrowed her eyes, determined to figure out who was behind this awkward change in villain.

"No on both accounts, Mrs. Jones." The one on the left motioned for the women to move toward them, "We have a private employer. Now why don't you bring Miss Weston and help us find your husband and son? We don't want the family to get separated in this trying and dangerous time."

"Kiss my ass, I ain't moving."Marion crossed her arms and cocked her head up. Laurel climbed down from the ladder and leaned against it, "Yeah, go to hell. You want us come over here and get us."

A shot rang out and the ladder rung directly above Laurel's head fell to her feet.

"Think you scare me? You need me alive or you would've killed me a long time ago." Laurel stuck her chin up like Marion.

"True, but Mrs. Jones, unfortunately, isn't necessary."He aimed the gun at her and cocked it, "Shall we go?"

"Not so fast, pal." Another gun cocked and Indy had his gun against one man's skull, then Mutt came up behind the other and put his knife against the man's throat, "Drop the guns or you get it. You are, unfortunately, completely unnecessary."

The two men dropped their guns and Mutt ran in front and picked them up, aiming one at the man he had left standing.

"Mom! Laurel! You two alright?" Mutt called out.

"Yes…be careful with the gun, Mutt."Marion couldn't help mothering him.

"Mom, not now."

"I'm just saying be-"

"Marion!"Indy called out, "Not. Now."

At that moment the mysterious villain Mutt had his gun trained on kicked Indy in the knees and Indy's gun fired into the wall. Mutt shot at the man's leg before he kicked Indy again then he turned, "Ma! Catch!"

Luckily Marion had had plenty of loaded guns thrown at her before and she was a pro by now. Mutt rammed the villain with his head and began trying to pummel him with his fists. Indy was now involved in his own fist fight with his own villain. At one point Indy was on top of his guy and finished him off with a swift punch right to the nose and beside him, Mutt was pinned and getting his face re-arranged. Indy tapped the villain on the shoulder and when the man turned, Indy popped him one in the nose too, and down he went.

"You know, Junior, I can't always be saving your ass." Indy smiled and gripped Mutt's shoulder.

"Dad!"Mutt grabbed the gun from Indy's belt and shot at the man Indy had been fighting, who was getting up and had a long-knife in his hand. The shot to the shoulder followed by a swift kick in the mouth once more retired him, "You know, old man, I can't always be saving your ass."

"Mutt!" Laurel screamed and Marion fired two shots into the chest of Mutt's victim who was reaching for the gun in Mutt's hand.

"And I can't be saving the two of you idiots all day, either. Now make sure they're really out this time." Marion stuck the gun into her belt and rolled her eyes. She put on a false-setto and began imitating her boys, "No I can't save you all day. No well _I_ can't save _you_ all day."

She snorted, "Your family for Christ's sake, just save each other and get over it."

Indy and Mutt looked at one another and Mutt shrugged, "She gets awful moody when she has to shoot someone."

"Trust me, kid. Moody ain't the half of it. I've been trapped in a dungeon with a floor full of snakes with her…_that's_ moody." Indy checked the villain's pulses, "They're out, Marion."

Laurel ran over and threw her arms around Mutt's neck, "Thank God you two are alright!"

A smug smile crept over Mutt's face, "Baby, that was allllll Smith and Weston. God was taking notes."

Indy clipped him upside the head, "Careful before your grandfather comes back from the dead and kills you for that."

Laurel rolled her eyes, "Whatever, listen let's get these two locked up."

"You see a prison cell around here, princess?"Indy nodded at the guys, "I don't know about you but I ain't hauling them into town."

Shaking her head, Laurel walked over to a book shelf and began reading off titles, _"Pride and Prejudice, Henry the Eighth, The Canterbury Tales..._Where is it? _The Hunchback of Notre Dame…_ Ah-ha! _The Count of Monte Cristo_."

She pulled the book back but instead of coming off of the shelf it opened the bookcase next to it.

"Woah, a secret passage!" Mutt went to step into it when Laurel pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.

"You idiot, don't just walk in!" Laurel pointed to the a crack in the floor about four feet from the entrance, "That's where the bottom drops out if you don't know the code for the cipher."

"What cipher?"Indy was looking in over Mutt's shoulder. In fact, he bodily moved Mutt out of his way to get a better view.

Laurel pointed to the wall were an eight letter cipher was against the wall.

"The cipher frees the lever that will support bring a bridge support under the second step there."

"Eight letters…it would take you a lifetime to guess if you didn't know."Marion whispered running her fingers over the keys. Right now it was set to M-Y-L-A-U-R-E-L, "Who would set it to that?"

When Laurel saw the setting she shuttered, "I…I don't know. My dad usually had it set on Aloysius. Anyway….neither are right. That's the point, drag those guys over here."

Mutt and Indy dragged the unconscious men over and pushed them onto the second step. It gave way and they slid down a shoot into the darkness below.

"There's a holding cell down there. Back in the day I think we kept manuscripts down there and so they wanted it protected. But my dad had everything moved to state of the art holding rooms in our museums. Everything except the spare piece or two…like the map over the fireplace."She looked over her shoulder at a large, closed, wooden box over the mantle of a fireplace.

"The box is a map?"Mutt said, disbelieving.

"No, the box is a pair of doors protecting the map from sun damage."Indy crossed the room and opened the doors, it was an ancient map of England and Ireland divided into parts that were numbered zero to ten. It wasn't made of paper…it was carved out of wood.

"Laurel, what's the real password?"Indy was getting one of his feelings.

Carefully Laurel pushed the dials to say A-T-L-A-N-T-I-S and then Marion chuckled, "Kinda obvious, ain't it?"

"it's not Atlantis but my dad always had me start on Atlantis first."Laurel explained as she set the cipher to D-U-B-S-I-X-O-H. "Dubsixoh. I have no idea what it means, as far as I know it doesn't have meaning. I've looked and looked and researched and researched….its not an anagram, not a name, not a place, not a riddle, not an anything."

"You're wrong." Indy was staring at the map, "It is a place."

He took out a knife and saw that Dublin was marked on the map, but if Indy had to guess at how old this map was he would say almost a thousand years.

"This is made out of jointed wooden panels."Indy said, "It's got two layers of wood, why two? And why joint the wood in squares, it doesn't make sense. Not to mention this is probably close to a thousand years old. I saw the pieces Martin put in his museum, some of them were barely two hundred years old. Why not put this in the museum? And Dublin wasn't Dublin a thousand years ago… and it certainly wouldn't have been placed where it is, that's off even by modern standards. In fact, there wouldn't have been writing on this map in all likelihood… something's wrong about this map, but its done on purpose. Mutt give me your knife."

Mutt walked over and handed Indy his knife then he walked next to Laurel and put an arm around her, she was watching Indy, absolutely riveted.

Indy pried up the square that Dublin was marked on and it came off, underneath was writing, bits and pieces of lines.

"Oh my…." Laurel cradled the piece in her hands like it was a child, "Dub is Dublin…sixoh must be six and zero, numbers."

Indy pried up the spot where six and zero met, more writing. But both of these pieces still looked incomplete.

"Try reversing it too."Mutt suggested, "Who knows?"

Indy successfully pried open the space where zero and six met. The three clipped together almost like puzzle pieces but two of them clipped side to side, the other one clipped on the bottom and it clearly left a spot for a fourth square.

"We're missing one…."

"We'll figure that out later! Can you read any of that?" Laurel squirmed with excitement.

"It's in…its in Aramaic? God….Aramaic. Who would write in that?" Indy twitched his head, "This might be from Aloysius himself…he would at least be able to read and write Aramaic."

"But what does it say, pops?" Mutt was just as excited as Laurel.

"It's a poem, or a riddle…. _Mother takes the path to the water throne and there she sits alone, Divide the rocks and split the tide to where the lady doth abide_…then its only half of the line. I see seat and climb and waves and graves… But no more directions. We need the fourth piece."

"I believe I can accommodate you in that respect. Boy! Get your arm off of my granddaughter!" The resounding voice of Grandmother Weston rang out and the entire family turned slowly, when they saw her and the small army of armed men in suits behind her Laurel screamed.

"You? YOU!!!" She lunged forward but Mutt grabbed her around her waist and held her back.

"Laurel calm down! Baby….baby stop! Stop!" He tried to settle her but she was seeing red, screaming and crying about her parents and Mutt knew if he let go of her the only way that Laurel would be taken off of her grandmother was as a cold, dead corpse.

"Laurel honestly!"Her grandmother spat indignantly, "I did not _want_ or _intend_ to kill your parents…. Well, not my Martin, anyway. It was an accident. He was protecting your mother. I thought I could find this place on my own, but I can't. I needed you, Laurel. Your father taught you things, he gave you clues… and I need them."

"Why do you want to find Atlantis?"Indy kept his hand on his belt where his gun hadn't been seen yet.

"Dr. Jones." Grandmother Weston smiled as if she remembered she had an honored guest, "You know I think I've quite underestimated you. It seems Laurel and Martin chose better than I did; I've had teams of people in here and they never figured out that map. I must say, I think I'll keep you along."

Indy wrapped his arm around Marion and put a firm hand on Mutt's shoulder, "Then it'll have to be a family deal, sister. I don't come cheap."

"No, you just marry cheap." Grandmother Weston shrugged, "Fine then, but I think that I will take your wife and….son, and keep them separate. Something to motivate you… oh, and that gun, Dr. Jones. It's terribly rude to bring a pistol into someone's home."

Indy put his gun on a nearby table as men with bigger guns then his came and took Marion and Mutt, tying their hands behind their backs.

"No…no!"Laurel tried to grab Mutt back but Indy pulled her away before she made the guards turn their weapons on her.

"Honey, keep close to my dad…someone's gotta watch out for the old timer."Mutt winked at them both and Indy smiled. Yup, that was definitely his boy.

"So…I'm going to need that fourth piece before I'll know where we need to go."Indy held out one hand.

Grandmother Weston sent half of her guards away with Marion and Mutt, Indy just hoped that Laurel could guess at where they'd be taken. That is, assuming an opportunity arose for a rescue attempt…. Which Indy was sort of banking on at this point. After all, one should always look at the glass as half full.

"You aren't really going to tell her anything, are you?"Laurel whispered, voice was hoarse from screaming and her eyes still red from crying.

"Well, I already know where to go and haven't told them. But I need to figure out what to do when we get there. Just hold tight and we'll hope we get the chance to find the others and get packing."

"She's probably holding them in the basement… that's where the shoot under the trap door leads. There's rooms there meant for….holding things."

"Shh."Indy hushed her as her grandmother came towards them and handed over a fourth piece of wood. Laurel recognized one side of it as the painted face of an antique hand-mirror that her mother had owned. Something else that had been in the family for generations.

"When my husband was young he found another cipher in the master bedroom. A five letter cipher and when we found the room it hadn't been opened in …. Ages I suppose. The dials were set to the word 'wiifa'. My husband was curious and figured out that the word meant 'wife' over a thousand years ago or some nonsense. He did some digging, thought it had something to do with all that fairy tale stuff they tell you about in this family. Since 'wiifa' dated back to the 800 and 900's he thought of an important wife…Aloysius'. It took a lot of time to find her name… Moira. You put in the name, and open pops a little hand mirror. I kept it, it was pretty. We thought it must have some kind of meaning." Grandmother Weston looked out the window as though, for a moment, she was capable of feeling an emotion and was actually fighting back tears, "It was Martin who put it together and found this square on the back of the mirror. Wiifa was written over the center spot and the side lines were all hidden in decoration, but my Martin found it."

"He didn't find these though…"Laurel looked down at Indy's hand and saw something her father wanted his whole life…pieces to his puzzle.

"Indeed, good work Dr. Jones. Perhaps it's a good thing you didn't get killed by my men after all."Grandmother Weston handed over her square, "But don't temp me to try you against them again. I'm not sure even you can take the lot of them no matter how clever you are."

Indy smiled at her, "Lady, you'd die of shock if I told you about what messes I've gotten myself out of."

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A/N- I updated! It's a miracle!

Hehehehehhee AND THE PLOT THICKENS!

I had a snow day, it was boring, a chapter got written…. And there is mortal peril involved! A cookie to whoever can figure out the location the poem has revealed : o )

Review please!!!!!!!


	13. Chapter 13

The Jones Boys

Marion had been biting her tongue ever since they threw her and Mutt into a dark, creepy dungeon and left armed guards with them.

"Just say something, ma, I know you want to." Mutt stared at the grimy ceiling hoping to avoid the over-bearing-mother look that Marion tended to give him.

Indignantly Marion threw her hair over her shoulders, "How do you know I want to say something?"

"The last time you had that look in your eye we were tied up in a van in Peru and I found out Indy was my father." Mutt exhaled slowly, "Just say it."

"I just...I want to let you know… It's for the best that I…"Marion sighed, "Are you _sleeping_ with that girl?"

"Nope. Next question." Mutt looked her dead in the eye when he said it and she could tell he wasn't lying but that didn't mean he was off the hook yet.

"Are you trying to?"

"Absolutely, but don't worry. You've done an amazing job intervening so far." Mutt took a deep breath, "You know… some day, you will have to let me get serious with a girl. Without getting crazy."

"I let you date plenty of girls!"Marion gaped at him, shocked that he would call her crazy.

"Yeah date them for a couple weeks and then you're happy when I get bored…you have never let me keep a girlfriend for more than six months. The one time I even hit six months was Heather Thompson and the next time she came to eat with us after the anniversary you almost stabbed her with the carving knife!"

"We were eating turkey and living by the train-tracks, the way that house shook I'm surprised that no one ever accidentally lost a hand to a blade in that house!" She bit her lip, "I didn't _try_ to stab her… she took me by surprise. Talking about going to college in the next town so she could be close to you, like she was really intending on planting herself in my backyard! She kept asking you for a promise ring like someone might ship her off to Taiwan if she didn't get one! I didn't want you feeling pressured!"

"So you plunge a carving knife four inches into the table right next to her ring finger?" Mutt gave Marion the look of _Come on lady, you expect me to buy that?_

"Mutt, I—"

"Listen, scaring off Heather was probably a good thing. It was going to end because she really wanted to get married that year and I wasn't about to do the marriage thing so soon." He paused to make sure what he was about to say was going to sound right, "But some day, Marion, I'm going to want to settle down and you got to let me get to know a girl well enough to settle down with her."

"Oh like Princess Laurel Weston the Ninth is going to be The One." Marion rolled her eyes and then caught Mutt blushing, _"Oh no!_"

"Don't get yourself all riled up, ma."

"You _love_ her?"

"Of course not." But this time Mutt didn't look her in the eye, and she sighed. Oh God, her baby boy….her baby boy loved someone.

"Are you sure it's not just a phase?"

"Pardon me," One of the guards butted in, "But is this going to resolve itself soon?"

"Shove it!" Marion and Mutt yelled in sync.

"I don't know, ma… I don't get enough time alone with her to see if it fizzles out or gets stronger."He looked poignantly at his mother as if to say _And that's clearly all your fault_.

"I'm not letting you have sex with her just to see if you lose interest in her next week because there's nothing left to look forward to. It would be immoral of me, you're both young and-"

"We're older then you when you met Indy." Mutt countered and then saw the expression on his mother's face.

_"What_ exactly has your father told you?" Mutt knew if he didn't phrase this very carefully he might very well lose another father.

"Listen all I know is that he was older than me, you were younger than me, and you couldn't keep your hands off of him to save your own life."

Marion made an indignant cry, "I could keep my hands off of him just fine!"

"You proposed to him that time!"

"And he proposed to me the second time!"

"And you kept your hands off of him so well that you got me!"

"Henry Jones if I had a free hand I would slap you right across that smart mouth! How—"

"How dare I? How dare I! Mom, you're just being….a bit of a hypocrite. That's all!"

"Will you shut the bloody hell up?" The other guard yelled.

"NO!" Mother and son screamed in unison again and then they both took a deep breath.

When Marion looked at him she didn't see some weird combination of her and Indy. She failed to realize that if you put two sticks of TNT together that the explosion just got bigger…and she and Indy were both sticks of dynamite. Mutt was just her baby, the little boy that was born with one curl of hair that wouldn't lay flat even if she glued it down. Her little boy that learned to walk by balancing on her feet. His first word was "mama" and he cried when she brought him to school for kindergarten because he didn't want her to leave. He was _her_ _baby_. And Indy… Indy was always brains and brawn. He could kill a man and then kiss her so hard her knees just dropped out from under her. He could save the world and the only person he could see was Marion.

It's just that Mutt was only supposed to get Indy's smart, nerdy side. Instead here he was, her leather clad, motorcycle riding, knife throwing, gun wielding little boy.

With Indy's sex drive.

Then again, she thought about that first summer with Indy…she _couldn't_ keep her hands off of him. Maybe it wasn't just Indy's sex drive Mutt inherited.

"I'm sorry that I keep ruining your chances."Marion finally said.

"Oh for the love of God we thought you were done!" One of the guards groaned.

"Shut up, I'm trying to talk to my son!"

"I will bludgeon you!" He waved a pistol at Marion.

"Hey, buddy, that's my mother you're talking to like that!"Mutt growled, "Watch it!"

Frustrated the guards opened up the cell and advanced on Mutt, "Or what?"

Mutt kicked the guard in the face and he fell back by Marion, his gun let off a shot and fell inches from Marion's bound hands. She was reaching, desperately reaching for it, and got it just as the second guard was about to take it. The boom echoed when she pulled the trigger, and the guard howled when two of his fingers were blown off. Kicking his leg up, Mutt shimmied the knife out of his boot and slid it across to his mother. She opened the blade, sawed through her ropes and went over to cut Mutt loose.

Then she pistol whipped the guard with missing fingers and handed Mutt his gun.

As they locked the guards into their cell Marion turned to Mutt, "Listen, I want you to be happy but sometimes… you're just my baby. I don't want you growing up….And I'm going to _kill_ your father for telling you about when we started dating."

Mutt smiled, "Thanks ma….and remember, most of the time you just my mother. _I _wanted to kill Indy for telling me about when you two started dating."

Smiling back at her boy, Marion ruffled his hair and he looked at her scandalized that she would trespass the sacred boundary of his hair, "Let's go get your father."

"And my girlfriend."

Marion rolled her eyes, "Fine, her too."

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A/N

Say it, I've been updating a lot! Woohoo! I know this is short but I got the idea for it and just went with it because it was that or homework and frankly the critical essays on The Canterbury Tales aren't always what I'd call scintillating reads. Hence, new chapter.

Anyone of you interested in doing me a favor? I have a young adult fiction I'm working on (I know, shock, I write non-fanfiction) and I need readers for feedback. There's currently 24 chapters and if you like this fic, you'd probably like that story too.

Just send me a private message or something with your contact info if you'd like to help out 

Thanks!

Oh….and review! Please!


	14. Chapter 14

The Jones Boys

Chapter 14

Laurel glared at Indy as he poured over her grandmother's piece and gently connected it to the other three. Even though she trusted him to protect his family, she couldn't shake off that bitter sensation that he was helping the enemy. Indy noticed her expressed and snorted, "Sometimes you seem far too perfect for him. He gave me the same look when I was helping the KGB read a map because they had a gun to Marion's head. Thought I might've just as well let the Reds kill us all and never read the map."

Laurel smiled, which was all Indy wanted.

"Certainly you aren't comparing me to some _Communist _Agency, Dr. Jones?" Grandmother Weston stuck her nose in the air about as high as she could manage.

"No, of course not." Indy took a magnefying glass off of the desk and tried to see if it made reading the aramaic easier, "But you do remind me of someone I met in Berlin once. He was burning a big stack of books and he had a funny-looking mustache."

Laurel barely contained her giggle, "Hitler-Granny."

"Laurel Marlene Agatha Weston!"

"Jesus that's a lot of names." Indy interjected.

Gwendolyn Weston stared down Indiana and her granddaughter, "Jones, decipher. Laurel.... just stop. Just stop! You're worse then your mother!"

Her cheeks grew red and Indy could tell Laurel was literally holding her breath. He patted her hand and saw the tears in her eyes. Indy had lost a mother...he couldn't imagine what it was like to have one taken away...especially not by another relative.

"I got it."

"Well Dr. Jones?"

" _Mother takes the path to the water throne and there she sits alone, Divide the rocks and split the tide to where the lady doth abide_…_Hard the seat that saves the climb Who rides the waves rocking quiet Mother's children's little graves." _Indy pointed to a little signature in the bottom left corner, "That says Brother Aloysius...these were made over a thousand years ago by the man that built this house. Do you realize _how_ impressive that is?"

"Of course, Dr. Jones. That's what the Weston's are, the most impressive spectactle of breeding in the known world. Imagine how much more impressive we will be when all the bedtime stories people have laughed at for so long wind up being true." Gwendolyn Weston smiled, "We'll be royalty in our own right. Masters of the entire ocean, a kind of king that all others must bow to."

"Lady, if I've learned one thing in my life its that if something is considered all powerful, and there's reason to believe it is, you wanna run in the opposite direction of it. If you want to find Atlantis to exploit it this whole adventure is just going to end in tears."

Grandmother Gwendolyn bristled, "Thank you, Dr. Jones, but I am quite capable of reasoning and this adventure will be perfectly sound."

Indy felt a tugging at his arm and he looked at Laurel, she stepped inbetween him and her grandmother so that only Indy could see her eyes which poignantly darted to the window. Without moving his head he peeked at it...a rope, just next to the frame. A rope?

"Indy" Laurel said through clenched teeth, "Are you really going to let her get all of us killed on this wild goose chase?"

If there was a rescue plan in motion, Indy was smart enough to help Laurel buy time until the plot was ready to be hatched.

"Wild goose chase? Then what have you been chasing going through all your father's research? Going to America to dig up this baffoon and his family?" Grandmother Weston hovered over Laurel like a tower, "You aren't telling me that you really think it doesn't exist?"

"Does it matter if it does? Does it _really_ matter so much that you orphaned me? That you killed my parents...your own son? Its probably derelict or caved in or something....nothing gets hidden that long without getting lost!" Laurel screamed.

"Well, that I disagree with but the kid's right about one thing: in the end it won't matter if Atlantis is real, fake, still around and capable of being found or buried so deep it'll never be up. It doesn't matter...its all just bedtime stories and even if you find it people won't necessarily believe it, or you." Indy saw a flicker of motion by the door of the study. Somewhere deep in his bones, he braced. He knew the action was coming.

The study door slammed shut and the window behind Indy shattered as Marion came through, guns blazing.

"Go down the rope you two! Quick!" Indy grabbed the directions to Atlantis off the table before he and Laurel slid down to the ground floor as fast as they could. Indy was smart enough to hold the rope between his sleeves but Laurel burned her hands pretty decently. Marion slid down and then shot the rope so no one could follow.

"Most of her goons are trapped in that room with her...so hopefully we get a decent headstart!"

"Where's Mutt?" Indy asked, Laurel was busy blowing on her hands, hoping that helped.

Marion started to run and the other two followed her, "He's arranging transportation."

When they got to the garage Marion had to shoot a guard who had been passing by, routine check up on the premises probably and opened the door to show Mutt hard at work. He had slashed the tires and cut the brakes on every car in the garage, every bike, every possible mode of transportation...and he had let the horses out of the stables.

"You guys ok?" he picked his head up from the hood of a beautiful Jaguar that it absolutely broke his heart to dismantle.

"Mostly." Laurel held up her hands to show the rope burns, "I won't be able to grip my bike's controls."

"I'll take your bike, ride with Mutt." Indy looked around, "Did anyone think of weapons?"

"Ten steps ahead of you daddio." Mutt tossed Indy a pistol they had taken off of the guards. Mutt had one tucked into his own belt now and he drew one out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Laurel.

"We better get a move on...I don't think they're too happy."

Gun shots echoed and angry shouting started, figures were starting to emerge from the house.

"Get on!" Mutt gunned the engine and Laurel jumped on behind him. Indy and Marion took off like a shot, but Mutt took a split second to kiss one of Laurel's burned hands before he took off after his parents.

He caught up to Indy on the road out and shouted, "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"IRELAND!"

"SO....PLANE?"

"PLANE!"

Off they sped, father and son half-forgetting it was a race of life and death and sometimes acting like it was just a race. Laurel had to laugh, who else faced life-threatening danger by acting like it was a game? She loved this family. As if Mutt knew she was thinking this, he rubbed her hands where they were clasped around his waist. From the bike next to them Marion smiled. Maybe this family was starting to love Laurel too.

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A/N

So its been a while, but not too long! How do we like the dramatic rescue?

I'm a bit tired and I've been run a bit ragged so I apologize if this feels a little tired itself but it was a delightful distraction to me to write this chapter.

please review!!


	15. Chapter 15

The Jones Boys

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A/N: Thank Ellie for this update, for some reason her review really warmed me up and made me wanna get back at this. In the real world my first book is FINISHED and a lit agent has it  I might get published, boys and girls. Do you all promise to follow me into the real world?

In the meantime: here's more on the adventures of Indiana Jones and Mutt (and those women that keep following them around)

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Chapter 15: Ireland

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"Are we there yet?" Mutt whined.

"Kid, you aren't too old to get smacked for being a pain in the ass so just refrain from asking that question ever again, ok?" Indy glanced up from beneath the brim of his hat.

Mutt shrugged and put an arm around Laurel's sleeping body and muttered, _"Just asking."_

"Look out the window, will ya Mutt?"

Craning his neck over Laurel Mutt furrowed his brow and tried to see what Indy was getting at, "What am I looking for?"

"What do you see?"

"Clouds and blue."

"The blue is water. As in the Atlantic. When you see green we're close. Now that you know that, do not talk to me until there's green." Indy grunted and went back to sleep. Marion rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning the guns.

Mutt settled back into his seat and Laurel shifted in her sleep, cuddling into his chest, which made Mutt smile ear to ear. He kissed her head and then looked over at his mom.

She held up her hands, "I'm not saying or doing anything."

"I know, thanks."

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The plane ride went quietly until Mutt excitedly kicked Indy's leg, "Indy! Indy! There's green stuff out of the window!"

"Hummuhhhhhhrrr." Indy mumbled in his sleep and Mutt knocked his fedora off of his face, "Land-ho, Daddio!"

"Marion, give me a gun. I'm going to shoot him."

Marion chuckled, "You were the one who had to tell him he could bother you when there was green."

"How did you deal with him when he was a kid?"

"I drink heavily, remember?"

"Ah." Indy stood up and cracked his back, "How are you guys with heights?"

Marion's eyes narrowed, "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Just a question," Indy zippered his jacket up to his neck and started rummaging through the overhead compartments, "Mutt, wake up Laurel."

"I'm awake…" Laurel yawned, "What's this about heights?"

Indy threw a parcel at her and she caught it, sitting up to study it. Mutt was looking over her shoulder when Indy threw one at him and knocked the wind clear out of his lungs. When he looked down at the heavy bag he saw words that sunk his heart clear into his feet: PARACHUTE.

"Uh…dad?"

"Hush puppy."

"I ain't no puppy!" Mutt turned the bold-faced PARACHUTE to Marion, "Mom, what the hell is this?"

Marion's eyes widened, "Indy, what kind of flight did you book us?"

"The kind that fly." Indy gave her that crooked smile and handed her a parachute, "But not the kind that lands."

"INDIANA JONES DO YOU EXPECT US TO JUMP OUT OF THIS PLANE?!" Marion screamed and threw her parachute on the ground, drawing herself to her full height so she could glare at Indy eye-to-eye.

Indy smirked even wider, "Maybe…I have to go touch base with the pilot to get jump details."

"JUMP DETAILS?!" Marion trailed after Indy calling him every obscenity she could think of and left Mutt and Laurel alone.

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"So… your dad's having us jump out of a plane?" Laurel chewed on one of her fingernails nervously.

Mutt shrugged, "You wanted Indiana Jones, you got him. He just makes it up as he goes."

Laurel smiled and Mutt's heart jumped again, "Yeah, I know someone else like that. You suppose we should put these things on?"

"Probably. We might have to jump in the next couple minutes."

Laurel buttoned her jacket all the way up and put the backpack over her shoulders, strapping it around her chest and around her hips with ease. When she looked over to Mutt he was tangled up and looked at her sheepishly, "Uh, I think mine was like…messed up or something. You know, like harder to do. Not like I couldn't figure it out."

"Riiiight." Laurel reached over and pushed the parachute off of him, zippering his jacket up and then pulling the straps of the parachute over his shoulders. She clicked the straps over his chest but let her fingers trail along his belt mischievously.

Mutt swallowed…maybe they had a few minutes to spare?

"You know, maybe yours was harder." Laurel pulled him towards her by his belt and he didn't complain when she kissed him. He held her face in both hands and kissed her back with everything he had. After all, any minute now Indy would be telling them to jump out of a goddamn plane, Mutt was allowed to die happy right?

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"Break it up and strap those bags on kids!" Indy bellowed.

Laurel pulled away from the kiss, buckled Mutt's hip straps and pulled them tight, "Let's hope we both land on our feet, and maybe we'll run away together?"

Mutt kissed her forehead, "Definitely. Oh yeah, one small detail, first we have to find Atlantis, not get killed by your grandmother and her goons, and not lose track of Indy and my mom."

"Crap, I keep forgetting about those parts."

Nervously Mutt grabbed her hand, "You think we're nuts, don't you?"

"Your family? … Have you noticed that my family's not exactly the Cleavers?"

They smiled, companions in their weirdness, and Indy came over to them and thrust goggles into their hands.

"Okay, so there's one cord to your right, that's the pull cord. There's one cord to your left, that's the emergency pull-cord. There's one cord on the bottom. Do not pull the cord on the bottom or you will die….questions?"

"Yeah I have one." Mutt raised his hand as though he was back in the classroom with Indy.

"What?" Indy smacked his arm down.

"In case we get separated is there some kinda meeting point? Where exactly are we going?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know where to go in case I actually survive this." Marion chimed in.

"The Cliffs of Moher. Trust me."

Laurel looked stunned, "The Cliffs …of Moher? Dad was right! They were on his short list! Well, he said they were, anyway, and that's incredible! How did you figure that out so fast?"

Indy grinned, "I'm Indiana Jones, it's what I do. You got mystical hidden stuff? I find it."

Marion clamped her goggled over her face, "So the Cliffs of Moher?"

"Cliffs of Moher."

"Ok," She nodded, "If and when we get there I swear I'm breaking both of your kneecaps for this, Jones."

"Then you'll just have to carry me, sweet heart." Indy kissed her and she forgot for one second that she was mad at him.

A loud siren started echoing through the tiny plane and a red light started flashing. Behind Mutt a door opened and Indy shouted over the wind, "COUNT TO ONE HUNDRED AND PULL THE CORD!"

"ONE HUNDRED?"

"YES OR YOU WILL BE TOO CLOSE TO THE GROUND AND YOU WILL DIE."

"DIE?! WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING ME THAT THIS MIGHT KILL ME?"

"RELAX, ITS JUST A PRECAUTION."

Indy pushed Mutt backwards and he fell out of the plane, "SO LONG, JUNIOR!"

Marion slapped Indy right across the face, "YOU JUST THREW OUR SON OUT OF A PLANE!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST—"

Indy pushed Marion out next and inwardly winced, he didn't want to know what she was going to do to him for that one.

He turned on Laurel who held out a hand, "ITS OK, I'LL JUMP."

And she did.

Indy shook his head and thought, _She's alright…_

Then he jumped.

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Ireland was beneath them…with Atlantis lingering close by.

No one falling to the earth trying not to die happened to notice that there was another plane not too far behind them.

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"Mrs. Weston? They've jumped."

"Jumped?"

"They seem to be wearing parachutes."

"How barbaric a way to land. Well, just bring down the plane then and we'll have to see if there's anyone left in one piece that knows where we're going."

"Yes m'am."

Grandmother Weston was closing in on the Jones'.

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To Be Continued.

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A/N- sorry its been a while, just keep harassing me and I'll get around to it!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N- what can I say? They're a fun little family to write about : - )

The Jones Boys

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Chapter 16: Landing on your feet

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mutt screamed and screamed and screamed as he realized that his father had just pushed him out of an airplane. As he was screaming he was hoping that each one translated to roughly five "Mississippi's" or he had no idea how close to one hundred he was which would inevitably end in him dying without having sex again.

_I think the grounds close enough._ He swallowed and yanked on his parachute's chord. For one second nothing happened and Mutt nearly cried, _Holy Shit I Really Am Going To Die._

Then the parachute opened.

The closer to ground he came the more concerned he was that ground tended to be hard. Like if you hit it, it hurt. Sometimes it hurt badly.

"This could be a problem." Mutt noticed that the only ground in any forceable area seemed to be littered with rocks and cows, neither of which seemed to be moving or turning softer as he got closer.

He closed his eyes tightly and then thought _Jesus Christ I can't see!_

_Must keep eyes on the ground, must not panic, must not die. MUST NOT DIE. THIS IS AN ORDER MUTT. _He told himself but he really didn't know how well this was all going to turn out no matter what kind of orders he gave himself.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY COWS!" He screamed but the cows just looked up at him and returned to chewing on whatever grass they could locate as though screaming men falling out of the sky was a completely natural occurrence.

"GET! SHOO!" Mutt tried again but he didn't succeed any further and the cows were rapidly becoming his only foreseeable landing pad. Mentally he crossed his fingers and tried to avoid the cows with horns as he landed.

When it was over Mutt was sitting across a big fat Bessie of a cow who turned her head to look at him as though to ask, "Why, exactly, are you on me? And what on earth is the big fabric thing coming out of your back?"

Mutt looked above him, hoping that he wasn't the only one who landed here. Shrugging he petted the cow's neck, "So, which way to the Cliffs of Moher?"

The cow ignored him.

"ROTTENNOGOODSONOFABITCHRATBASTARDGODDAMNEDTRAMPOFAWHORE!"

"Mom?" Mutt raised his eyes skyward again and saw a black shape growing larger and larger. Some slight distance away Marion seemed to be landing a little bit more gracefully than Mutt had (and noticeably, navigated away from the cows).

When Marion landed she unhooked the parachute and was dusting herself off, still cursing Indiana, "I'll divorce him, that sleezy scumbag, miserable excuse for a man. Who does he think he is? Throwing me out of a plane? I'll kill him. I'll make sure he's all right and I'll _kill_ him. I'll shoot both his knees. I'll punch his kidneys with a meat tenderizer. I'll take his precious ba--

"MOM!"

Marion turned and her whole face lit up, "Oh God! Honey! You're alright! …What are you doing on that cow? Get off of it this instant!"

Mutt struggled to get off Bessie but his parachute was all tangled in everything around him. Rolling her eyes Marion marched over and expertly freed him from his situation before she started inspecting him like a racing horse.

"Broken bones? Whiplash? Sprains? Strains? Fractures of any kind? Did you hit your head? How does your chest feel, does your chest hurt? What about your breathing, how is that going?"

"Mom, calm down, I'm alright….how did you land so well? And why did dad push us out of that plane?"

"I might have done a few free jumps during the war as a kind of thrill thing. I knew a few pilots back then… silly really…and _your father_ pushed us because he is a _wretched snake of a twisted, evil excrement of a jackel._"

"Umm…was that a sentence?"

"I'm going to kill your father."

"Ok…"Mutt rolled his eyes and noticed a third blackish shape approaching them rapidly, "Well here he is now."

"Might be your girlfriend…think she remembered to open the shoot?"

"MOM!"

"SORRY!"

Mutt snarled at her and strained to see who was approaching, "I think it is Laurel, actually."

"Fantastic." Marion murmured.

"Focus on murdering dad, will you?" Mutt snipped and watched as Laurel landed fine but promptly became overwhelmed by the mass of her parachute and disappeared beneath the fabric.

"HHEEELLLPP" Her screams were muffled by the parachute.

She heard a ripping noise and then Mutt stuck his head in, "Need a hand?"

Unbuckling the parachute's sack she extended her hand, "Please?"

Lifting her out Mutt checked her over the same way his mother had checked over him, "Did you hurt anything?"

"No, I actually thought it was kind of fun." Laurel smiled, "Then again, I jumped."

"He didn't push you?!" Marion screeched and then began cursing so low under her breath that Mutt really thought she might just kill Indy when he showed up.

"Well, I saw him push you two, I just figured I'd volunteer to go."

"I didn't not volunteer, I just got pushed." Mutt held up his hands defensively, "I would've jumped."

Laurel smiled and looked over his shoulder, "Why is that cow wearing a parachute?"

Mutt grinned, "Its ok, Bessie digs the chute."

"Bessie? … Some other woman you want to tell me about?"

"Yeah I forgot to mention, I like my women to be five hundred pounds and have utters…it's a thing."

Laurel giggled but it was overwhelmed by Marion's growl, "_**INDIANA JONES!**_"

"Guess dad's here." Mutt looked up and sure enough there was their fearless leader calming descending but looking terrified to land. He wasn't a fool, he knew what was waiting for him.

"GLAD TO SEE EVERYONE'S WALKING!" He called down.

"JUST WAIT TIL YOU GET DOWN HERE JONES!" Marion called back and Mutt noticed her hand was on her gun.

Indy landed and looked at Mutt and Laurel, "Listen I saw a farm about a mile east of here, why don't you two go ask about borrowing a truck or something? I think your mother and I need to have a word."

"More than one of them, Jones. Some of them might even be angry words."

Laurel laughed nervously and grabbed Mutt's hand, "We'll be leaving you to that then…"

"Um, mom…don't really kill him, please? He's growing on me."

"Leave now." Marion pointed east and focused all her rage on Indy.

Mutt and Laurel walked in companionable silence, hand in hand, until they came to Old Man McKelvey's farm. He was a funny little guy that was more than happy to lend them an old '42 Ford on the grounds that Mutt give it a tune up first. While Mutt clanked away on the Ford engine Laurel offered to make the man dinner for being so nice. She didn't cook often but she cooked rather well; it took her a while to familiarize herself with the slightly different set of tools he had in rural Ireland but soon she had a Shepherd's Pie underway and was making a fast pudding for dessert. They'd been gone a couple of hours and Laurel was beginning to get worried that there'd be nothing left of Indy when they got back.

After what seemed like forever Mutt called out, "LAUREL! ITS READY!"

She was busy with the pudding at the moment and didn't really respond to him. Thinking she hadn't heard him at all Mutt went inside the house and was hit by the most amazing smell of food he'd ever smelled.

"What is that?"

"Shepherd's pie? I offered to make Mr. McKelvey dinner for being nice enough to let us borrow the truck."

"I thought I was giving him a free tune up for letting us borrow the truck?" he leaned over her should and breathed in deeply the scent of fresh pudding.

"Whoever said you could be _too_ generous?" She smiled and kissed his cheek and Mutt was hit with a life-altering epiphany. He wanted to go through the door of his own house after working on cars and smell that delicious dinner and see Laurel. That's what he wanted.

"You ready to go find a lost city?" She elbowed him as she took the pudding off the stove.

And he wanted to hunt down mysteries too. You know, keep up with the family business.

"Yeah, let's go find us some mystic crap…THANKS MR. MCKELVEY!" He called out and the old man came into the kitchen salivating.

"Sure smells good, lass. Thank ye again. Hasn't smelled this good in this kitchen since before me wife died, God rest her soul. Good luck to ye on yer ventures."

"Thanks sir! We'll get your truck back to you as soon as possible."

He smiled and waved the pair away, focusing in on his dinner with glee.

Mutt started up the car and Laurel climbed in the passenger seat, automatically sidling up next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Do you think your dad's still alive?"

"He's survived Nazis a few times…he's pretty tough."

"Nonetheless….do you think he's still in one piece?"

Mutt grimaced, "Highly questionable."

He kissed her forehead and they headed back west to get his parents before they'd re-set the compass for the Cliffs of Moher. When they got back to the landing site Marion was petting Bessie the cow as if she were a dog and Indy was on a rock with a wad of wet grass plastered against the left side of his face.

"Going vegetarian?" Mutt called out and Indy dropped the grass to reveal a huge black eye that was still spreading.

"You will drive, you will not smart ass me, or I will make your face match mine."

Mutt stifled a laugh, "Yes sir…HEY MA! GRAB THE RACCOON OVER HERE AND LET'S SPLIT! MYSTICAL LOST CITIES ARE CALLING OUR NAME!"

Laurel laughed and opened the door for Dr. Jones feeling completely at ease with this strange family.

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To be Continued

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A/N how do you like me now? Two chapters, two days…just praise me, I love it : o )

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	17. Chapter 17

The Jones Boys

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Chapter 17

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"Dad?" Mutt shouldered Indy as they drove towards the Cliffs of Moher.

"Do not ask me again if you value your life." Indy growled.

"It's just…are you _sure_ that my bike is safe at the airport in England? Your buddy's going to look after it?"

"_Our bikes_, my baby's out there too." Laurel muttered in her sleep and Indy rolled his eyes.

"For the hundredth time, Mike is an old buddy of mine and he'll take good care of your babies. Now calm down, your bike will be alright."

"You know you told me that my bike would be alright? Peru. Remember what happened? It took us six months to track it down and we found my _Harley_ had been altered into a chewing gum stand. I'm just saying…your sure about this Mike guy?"

Laurel shifted, "Mutt?"

"Yeah honey?"

"Shut up."

Mutt nodded and quieted down as he focused on the road. Indy watched in awe as Mutt actually listened to her when she told him to be quiet. He _never_ listened to Indy that well… he hadn't been this quiet since he lost his voice after a shouting match with his boss. Leaning over to Marion Indy whispered, "Are you hearing this? She got him to shut up."

"Indy?" Marion murmured as she snuggled her head into Indy's shoulder.

"Yes dear?"

"Shut up."

Mutt turned his head and looked over at his father who stared at him with an expression that clearly said _Say something and I break your nose_.

He didn't say anything he just smiled, _Guess I really am his son._

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The old pick-up truck that the Jones family was riding in left big, wide, and easily found tracks. There really wasn't time to conceal them but they believed that they didn't have anyone following closely behind.

"You there! Man!" Grandmother Weston barked, "You've established where they've gone I assume?"

"Yes m'am but the light is fading fast and we'll probably have to—"

"I'm sorry, do you _own_ a flashlight? Possibly a torch? Maybe some matches and some fire-sensitive substance?"

"Yes?"

"Well then I see absolutely no reason why you should have to stop at night, it just seems like sloth to me."

"Of course mum, silly of me not to jump to that conclusion myself."

The man, completely identical in Grandmother Weston's eyes to all the other men she employed for this venture, faded back into the background. She huffed at the man's stupidity and laid her head back. She had rented a full trailer for the excursion because she refused to sleep _sitting up_ like a savage. There was an additional trailer behind her that had scientific equipment in it of various sorts that should prove useful no matter what they found. She just hoped that it wouldn't get messy again like when she had sent her men to deal with her son and his silly wife. She had asked everything to be orderly but sometimes menial-laborers like these terrible men she had found just disregarded basic commands for their own sick enjoyment.

Grandmother Weston put a sleep cap over her eyes and laid down to sleep for the night. When she woke up in the morning she honestly hoped that she would find the Jones family knotted up and that wretched Indiana telling her where Atlantis was.

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"Mutt, throw this thing into park and switch seats with me. I'll drive for a while." Indy signaled halfway through the night.

"Why don't we just pull over and everyone sleeps instead of two of us half-sleeping?"

"Because I find that sleeping in the night when people with guns are trying to find you tends to be a bad idea."

Yawning widely Mutt parked the truck and Indy jumped over Marion to get out of his seat. Mutt refused to jump over Laurel because if she woke up while he was doing it he sensed he would get kicked in an awkward place. Instead he gently pushed her until she was against his mother and then he leaned his head against hers and was asleep in under a minute. Indy snorted.

"I don't get it. In a plane I have to all but poison him to make him sleep but in a car where he can snuggle with a female he's all but narcoleptic." Indy chuckled, "Actually I do get it, still it's more annoying when I'm watching and not doing."

"_Jones_." Marion warned in her sleep, "Shhh."

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"Hey…hey!" Indy prodded his family, "Hey!"

He brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a sharp whistle that startled everyone in the car into instant action.

"What's that all about?" Marion screeched.

"Wakey wakey…we're here."

Everyone piled out of the car and looked around. The landscape was empty until the edge of the world ended and the ocean began: the Cliffs of Moher were a steep fall down if you happened to go over the edge.

"What do we do now?" Laurel asked, looking around as though expecting another parachute to get chucked at her.

"_Mother takes the path to the water throne and there she sits alone, Divide the rocks and split the tide to where the lady doth abide_…_Hard the seat that saves the climb Who rides the waves rocking quiet Mother's children's little graves." _ Indy recited, "But it's a taken dipthong: Not Mother. Moher. The 't' hadn't actually become a mated dipthong with the 'h' when this was written. The path to the water throne…well…start looking for a path down. Given the other context clues we're looking for something small and well concealed that would only fit one person."

"Small and well concealed? You mean so much so that it might go undiscovered for a thousand years?" Mutt quipped.

"Something like that."

Laurel looked uneasy but Mutt clapped a hand around her shoulder, "Don't worry, we do this kind of thing all the time."

"Are you getting a bad feeling about any of this?" She asked.

"Don't worry, eventually that goes away…or is overwhelmed by the life-threatening situations. One or the other."

"That's so comforting, Mutt."

"Glad I could help, doll."

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"Mrs. Weston! We've spotted them! They've just arrived at the Cliffs of Moher!"

"Excellent… now don't interrupt my sleep again until you've got the doorway to Atlantis uncovered."

"Yes m'am." The guard lurched away thinking that he might one day smother that annoying woman and take all the credit for the Atlantis find himself…that is, if none of the other guards got a similar idea and off-ed him first.

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To Be Continued

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A/N- its short but that's three additions to this in a week…admit it, once that first update went up you thought I'd be gone from this for another six months! At least you're getting more : - ) I've rediscovered my love for these guys….SO much fun to play with!

Please Review!!


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